slaughter

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈslɔtɚ/ UK /ˈslɔːtə/ See IPA manual

Freq #6714

Meanings

1

verb
To kill animals for food.

The farmer slaughtered the pig for the winter.
2

verb
To kill people brutally and in large numbers.

Thousands of civilians were slaughtered during the war.
3

noun
The brutal killing of a large number of people.

The battle turned into a terrible slaughter.
4

noun
The killing of animals for meat.

The animals are sent to a separate building for slaughter.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to kill animals for food. butcher

3 noun · the brutal killing of a... butchery carnage massacre

Word family

Forms slaughteredslaughteringslaughters

Derived forms antislaughtercatslaughterdeerslaughtergodslaughtermanslaughtermisslaughterpreslaughterself-slaughterself-slaughteredselfslaughterslaughterableslaughterbot

Simplified etymology

Slaughter entered English in the Middle English period from Old Norse slátr, “butcher’s meat.” It is related to the Old English verb slay.

Etymology

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, Finnish lahdata (all “to slaughter”).

slaughter Middle English *slahtr Old Norse *slahtrą Proto-Germanic *slahaną Proto-Germanic *slak- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# slaughter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈslɔtɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈslɔːtə/
**Frequency rank:** 6714

## Meanings
1. To kill animals for food.
2. To kill people brutally and in large numbers.
3. The brutal killing of a large number of people.
4. The killing of animals for meat.

## Examples
- The farmer slaughtered the pig for the winter.
- Thousands of civilians were slaughtered during the war.
- The battle turned into a terrible slaughter.
- The animals are sent to a separate building for slaughter.

## Derived Forms
- antislaughter
- catslaughter
- deerslaughter
- godslaughter
- manslaughter
- misslaughter
- preslaughter
- self-slaughter
- self-slaughtered
- selfslaughter
- slaughterable
- slaughterbot

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: slaughter
- Root: *slahtr
- Root: *slahtrą
- Root: *slahaną
- Root: *slak-

## Etymology
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, Finnish lahdata (all “to slaughter”).

## AI Etymology
Slaughter is 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, Finnish lahdata (all “to slaughter”). Important forms in the word's history include Middle English slaughter, Old Norse *slahtr, Proto-Germanic *slahtrą, Proto-Germanic *slahaną, Proto-Indo-European *slak-. In current use it includes senses such as To kill animals for food and To kill people brutally and in large numbers.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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