Where does “massacre” come from?
Massacre comes from Middle French massacre, derived from French massacrer, from Middle French massacrer and Old French macecrer, ultimately from Latin mattea, a word of uncertain origin possibly related to Proto-Indo-European mat.
massacre (English): The killing of a considerable number where...
Definitions
- The killing of a considerable number where...
Ancestry of “massacre”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | massacre | massacre |
| 2 | Old French | macecrer | — |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | matteuculare | — |
| 4 | Latin | matteuca | club (heavy object) |
| 5 | Latin | mattia | — |
| 6 | Latin | mateola | The meaning of this term is uncertain.... |
| 7 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |