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slaughterhouse

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Etymology and origin of the English word slaughterhouse

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1374 More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origins
Old Norse *slahtrOld English hūs

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsloː.tə(ɹ).haʊs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English slaughterhous,[2] formed from Middle English slaughter + hous.[3][4][2][5] The first part is a borrowing from early Old Norse *slahtr, the source of slátr (“butcher's meat”);[3][6] the second is Old English hūs.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A house or place where animals are killed for food: about 1374, in a Durham record printed by Raine.[3] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century,[4] and Dictionary.com, which gives the Middle English form slautherhus, to 1325–75.[7]

Semantic evolution

From 1578 the word was used of a place or scene where people are killed,[3] by the 1540s according to Etymonline.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as a house in which beasts are killed for the butcher, quoting Shakespeare on "th' uncleanly savour of a slaughterhouse".[5] In 1552 it named a part of a fortification.[3] Slang uses play on the customer being "slaughtered":[8] a low tavern where thieves brought poached animals (1612),[8] a crooked gambling house (1809),[8][3] a shop that bought goods from poor workmen at very low prices (1851),[3][8] a hospital in thieves' slang (1882)[8] and a cheap brothel (1928).[3][8] A house that harmed the health of those living in it was also called one, from 1899.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – a place where animals are killed for food.[3]
  • 1552 – a part of a fortification (obsolete).[3]
  • 1578 – a place or scene where people are killed.[3]
  • 1612 – slang, a low tavern where thieves brought poached animals.[8]
  • 1809 – slang, a crooked gambling house.[3][8]
  • 1851 – slang, a shop buying goods from small makers at very low prices.[3][8]
  • 1899 – a house injurious to health.[3]
  • 1928 – slang, a cheap brothel.[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A place where animals are killed for meat; an abattoir.[9][2][10]
  2. A scene of massacre or carnage, or anything likened to one: The final round of the tournament was a slaughterhouse for the favourites.[10][2][3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  6. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cite this entry

“Slaughterhouse.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/slaughterhouse. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·