# massacre
## English
### Alternative forms

* massacer (archaic)

### Etymology

1580, from Middle French massacre, from Old French macacre, marcacre, macecre, macecle (“slaughterhouse, butchery”), usually thought to be deverbal from Old French macecrer, macecler (“to slaughter”), though the noun seems to be attested somewhat earlier. It is also found in Medieval Latin mazacrium (“massacre, slaughter, killing”, also “the head of a newly killed stag”). Further origin disputed:
* From Latin macellum (“butcher shop”).
* From Vulgar Latin *matteuculāre, from *matteuca (cf. massue), from Late Latin mattea, mattia, from Latin mateola.
* From Middle Low German *matskelen (“to massacre”) (compare German metzeln (“massacre”)), frequentative of matsken, matzgen (“to cut, hew”), from Proto-West Germanic *maitan, from Proto-Germanic *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”). Akin to Old High German meizan (“to cut”) among others.
* Note also Arabic مَجْزَرَة (majzara), originally “spot where animals are slaughtered”, now also “massacre”, and in Maghrebi Arabic “slaughterhouse”. Derived from جَزَرَ (jazara, “to cut, slaughter”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmæs.ə.kə(ɹ)/
** Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: mass‧a‧cre

### Noun

massacre (countable and uncountable, plural massacres)
* The killing of a considerable number (usually limited to people) where little or no resistance can be made, with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and/or contrary to civilized norms.
** c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:I'll find a day to massacre them all, And raze their faction and their family
    St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
    St. Valentine's Day Massacre
    Amritsar Massacre
* (obsolete) Murder.
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):The tyrannous and bloody act is done,— The most arch deed of piteous massacre That ever yet this land was guilty of.
* (figuratively) Any overwhelming defeat, as in a game or sport.

#### Synonyms

* (mass killing contrary to civilized norms): butchery, slaughter (in the manner of livestock); decimation (strictly an orderly selection of ⅒ of a group for slaughter; see its entry for other terms concerning other ratios)

#### Hyponyms

* (mass killing contrary to civilized norms): atrocity; war crime; ethnic cleansing

#### Derived terms

* St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

#### Related terms

* carnage
* massacree
* massacrer
* mass murder

#### Translations
### Verb

massacre (third-person singular simple present massacres, present participle massacring, simple past and past participle massacred)
* (transitive) To kill in considerable numbers where little or no resistance can be made, with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to civilized norms. (Often limited to the killing of human beings.)
** 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:If James should be pleased to massacre them all, as Maximilian had massacred the Theban legion
* (transitive, figuratively) To win against (an opponent) very decisively.
* (transitive, figuratively) To perform (a work, such as a musical piece or a play) very poorly.
* (transitive, proscribed) To kill with great force or brutality.
** 1972, The Godfather (film)
    Look how they massacred my boy.

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* Marescas, massacer

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from French massacre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [məˈsa.kɾə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [maˈsa.kɾe]

### Noun

massacre f (plural massacres)
* massacre

#### Related terms

* massacrar

#### Further reading

* “massacre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ma.sakʁ/

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French massacre, from the verb massacrer.

#### Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)
* massacre

##### Derived terms

* jeu de massacre

##### Related terms

* massacrer

##### Descendants

* → Catalan: massacre
* → Danish: massakre
* → German: Massaker
* → Norwegian Bokmål: massakre
* → Norwegian Nynorsk: massakre
* → Portuguese: massacre
* → Spanish: masacre

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

massacre
* inflection of massacrer:
** first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “massacre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* sacrâmes, sarcasme

## Middle French
### Etymology

Of disputed origin:
* Most likely from Old French macecrer, macecler, from Vulgar Latin *matteuculāre, from *matteuca (cf. massue), from Late Latin mattia, *mattea, from Latin mateola.
* From a derivative of Latin macellum (“butcher shop”), although this is less likely.
* From Old French macacre, macecle (“slaughterhouse, butchery”), alternatively from Medieval Latin mazacrium (“massacre, slaughter, killing”, also “the head of a newly killed stag”), from Middle Low German *matskelen (“to massacre”) (compare German metzeln (“massacre”)), frequentative of matsken, matzgen (“to cut, hew”), from Proto-West Germanic *maitan, from Proto-Germanic *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”). Akin to Old High German meizan (“to cut”) among others.

### Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)
* massacre

#### Descendants

* French: massacre

## Occitan
### Etymology

From French massacre.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (Béarn):(file)

### Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)
* massacre

#### Related terms

* massacrar

## Portuguese
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from French massacre.

#### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /maˈsa.kɾi/
* (Brazil) IPA: /maˈsa.kɾi/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /maˈsa.kɾe/
* (Portugal) IPA: /mɐˈsa.kɾɨ/
* Hyphenation: mas‧sa‧cre

#### Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)
* massacre

##### Related terms

* massacrar
* massacrante

#### References

* ↑ “massacre”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* ↑ “massacre”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

massacre
* inflection of massacrar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative