slaughter

Meanings

Noun

• The killing of animals, generally for food.
• A massacre; the killing of a large number of people.
• A mass destruction of non-living things.
• A rout or decisive defeat
• A group of iguanas.

Verb

• To butcher animals, generally for food.
• To massacre people in large numbers.
• To kill someone or something, especially in a particularly brutal manner.

Origin

• From Middle English slaughter, from Old Norse *slahtr, later sláttr, from Proto-Germanic *slahtrą, from Proto-Germanic *slahaną. Equivalent to slay + --ter (as in laughter). Eventually derived from Proto-Indo-European *slak- ("to hit, strike, throw"). Related with Dutch slachten, German schlachten (both “to slaughter”).