Etymologically
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guillotine

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 03:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɡɪlətiːn/, /ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/ (UK); /ˈɡɪləˌtin/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French guillotine,[2][3][4][5] named after Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), a French physician.[2][3][4][5][6] As a deputy to the National Assembly in 1789 he proposed that executions be carried out by a beheading machine,[2][4][5] which he argued was quicker and less painful than the rope or the sword.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The French machine for beheading, with a heavy blade sliding between grooved posts (1793).[7][3][4][2] Etymonline dates it to 1791.[5]

Semantic evolution

The machine was designed by Dr Antoine Louis and first used on 25 April 1792;[2] it was at first called a louisette or louison after him, but Guillotin's name stuck,[2] and his children later tried in vain to change it.[2] Similar devices had existed in the Middle Ages.[5] The name was transferred to cutting machines for paper and metal (1866) and to a surgical instrument for removing the tonsils.[7][6] In British parliamentary use it names the fixing of a time limit on debate of a bill (1850).[7][3]

Timeline

  • 1793 – the French beheading machine.[7][3][4][2]
  • 1794 – verb, to behead by the guillotine.[7][4][5]
  • 1850 – (parliament) a time limit on discussion of a bill.[7]
  • 1866 – a machine for cutting paper or books.[7]
  • 1884 – guillotine shears for cutting metal.[7]
  • 1893 – verb, to cut short discussion of a bill.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A device for beheading a person, with a heavy blade dropped between two upright guides.
  2. A machine or instrument with a similar cutting action, such as a paper cutter or a surgical instrument for removing the tonsils.
  3. (chiefly British) A time limit imposed on the debate of parts of a bill.

Verb

  1. To behead with a guillotine.
  2. To cut with or as if with a guillotine; to end abruptly.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press