shambles English · revision 2409

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈʃæmbəlz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the plural of Middle English ''shamel'' “a stall or table for selling meat”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) [[inh|ang|sceamol|t=stool, bench, table]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) an early Germanic borrowing of [[la|scamillum|t=low stool]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a diminutive of [[la|scamnum|t=stool, bench]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) German ''Schemel'' “footstool” comes from the same Latin word.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A meat or fish market (1477–1478; early 15th century in Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From a market where meat was sold, the word passed to a slaughterhouse (1548),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and figuratively to a place of butchery or carnage (1593).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) About 1901 it came to mean a scene of complete disorder or a total mess,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) which is now the usual sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 830 – Old English ''scomul'', a stool, a table for selling.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1477–1478 – ''sheambles'', a meat or fish market.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1548 – a slaughterhouse.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1593 – a place of butchery or carnage.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * about 1901 – a scene of confusion, a mess.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A scene or state of complete disorder or ruin; a mess.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A scene of bloodshed or great destruction.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A slaughterhouse.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A meat market or butcher's shop.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[shambolic]]

+ * [[shamble]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary considers it pedantic to insist that the word be used figuratively only of a scene of carnage, since the original sense “meat market” is now obscure.^(AHD) It takes a singular or plural verb.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}