guillotine English · revision 2194

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡɪlətiːn/, /ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɡɪləˌtin/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|guillotine]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) named after Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), a French physician.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) As a deputy to the National Assembly in 1789 he proposed that executions be carried out by a beheading machine,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) which he argued was quicker and less painful than the rope or the sword.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The French machine for beheading, with a heavy blade sliding between grooved posts (1793).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD) Etymonline dates it to 1791.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The machine was designed by Dr Antoine Louis and first used on 25 April 1792;^(AHD) it was at first called a ''louisette'' or ''louison'' after him, but Guillotin's name stuck,^(AHD) and his children later tried in vain to change it.^(AHD) Similar devices had existed in the Middle Ages.^(Etymonline) The name was transferred to cutting machines for paper and metal (1866) and to a surgical instrument for removing the tonsils.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) In British parliamentary use it names the fixing of a time limit on debate of a bill (1850).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1793 – the French beheading machine.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)

+ * 1794 – verb, to behead by the guillotine.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1850 – ''(parliament)'' a time limit on discussion of a bill.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1866 – a machine for cutting paper or books.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1884 – ''guillotine shears'' for cutting metal.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1893 – verb, to cut short discussion of a bill.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device for beheading a person, with a heavy blade dropped between two upright guides.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A machine or instrument with a similar cutting action, such as a paper cutter or a surgical instrument for removing the tonsils.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A time limit imposed on the debate of parts of a bill.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To behead with a guillotine.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To cut with or as if with a guillotine; to end abruptly.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}