Etymologically
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slaughter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈslɔːtə/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English slauhter, borrowed from Old Norse *slahtr, compare slátr (“butchering, butcher's meat”) and slátra (“to slaughter”),[2][3][4][5] related to slá (“to strike”) (see slay),[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *slahtiz,[2] cognate with Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍃 (slaúhts) and Dutch slacht.[2] The form was perhaps influenced by the native cognate slaught, from Old English sleaht.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The killing of a person, and the killing of large numbers in battle: before 1300 in Barnhart and the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline.[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The killing of cattle or sheep for food is from the mid-14th century in Etymonline, before 1300 in the OED.[3][6] Slaughterhouse is from about 1374.[2] The verb, to butcher animals, is from the 1530s, in Coverdale's Bible (1535),[3][2] and to kill people ruthlessly or in great numbers from the 1580s.[3] In informal use a slaughter is also a crushing defeat.[7]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – a killing; a massacre.[2][6]
  • c. 1374 – slaughterhouse.[2]
  • 1535 – to slaughter (verb).[2]
  • 1580s – to massacre.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The killing of animals for food.
  2. The brutal killing of large numbers of people; a massacre.
  3. (informal) A heavy defeat.

Verb

  1. To kill animals for food; to butcher.
  2. To kill people brutally or in great numbers.
  3. (informal) To defeat heavily.

Word family

  • slaughterer
  • slaughterous
  • slaughteringly
  • self-slaughtered
  • unslaughtered
  • manslaughter
  • self-slaughter
  • slaughterhouse
  • slay
  • sledge

Usage notes

In Essex dialect a slaughter was a great alteration involving some destruction, as in repairing an old house.[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)