macabre

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Disturbing and gruesome, especially because it deals with death.

   The novel describes the murder in macabre detail.

2. 2
   adj

   Strangely fascinated by death or the gruesome.

   He has a macabre sense of humour and loves telling stories about graveyards.

Simplified etymology

Macabre probably arose from the late Middle English phrase dance of macabré, a name for the dance of death. It may refer to medieval miracle plays depicting the slaughter of the Maccabees, with French macabé altered to macabre; forms supporting that change are recorded, but the derivation remains uncertain. Maccabaeus itself may come from a Hebrew word meaning “hammer.”

Borrowed from French macabre, whose etymology is uncertain. Possibly from the term danse macabre, most commonly believed to be from corruption of the biblical name Maccabees; compare Latin Chorea Machabaeorum. Another theory derives the French term (through Spanish macabro) from Arabic مَقَابِر (maqābir, “cemeteries”), plural of مَقْبَرَة (maqbara) or مَقْبُرَة (maqbura).

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary