abattoir

English
WOTD – 7 December 2008

Etymology

Borrowed from French abattoir, from abattre (“to slaughter”) (cognate to abate) + -oir (“-ory”).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈæb.əˌtwɑː(ɹ)/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈæb.əˌtwɑɹ/, /ˈæb.əˌtwɑ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (CA)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Hyphenation: ab‧at‧toir

Noun

abattoir (plural abattoirs)

  1. A public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc. [Early 19th century.][1]
    Once the cows reach maturity, they're sent to the abattoir.
  2. A place or event likened to a slaughterhouse, because of great carnage or bloodshed.[2]
    The army's raid on the enemy turned into a major abattoir.
    Synonym: bloodbath

Translations

See also

References
  1. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abattoir”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 2.
  2. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Further reading

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French abattoir.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˌaː.baːˈtʋaːr/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: abat‧toir
  • Rhymes: -aːr

Noun

abattoir n (plural abattoirs, diminutive abattoirtje n)

  1. abattoir, slaughterhouse

Synonyms

Descendants
  • → Caribbean Hindustani: batwár
  • → Indonesian: abatoar
  • → Papiamentu: abatuar
  • → Sranan Tongo: abatwar

French

Etymology

abattre +‎ -oir

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /a.ba.twaʁ/
  • audio(file)

Noun

abattoir m (plural abattoirs)

  1. slaughterhouse; abattoir

Descendants
  • → Dutch: abattoir
    • → Caribbean Hindustani: batwár
    • → Indonesian: abatoar
    • → Papiamentu: abatuar
    • → Sranan Tongo: abatwar
  • → English: abattoir
  • → Moore: batoaare
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: abattoir

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål
An abbatoir.

Etymology

From French abattoir.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /abatɔˈɑːr/
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɑːr
  • Hyphenation: a‧batt‧oi‧ar

Noun

abattoir n (definite singular abattoiret, indefinite plural abattoirer, definite plural abattoira or abattoirene)

  1. (concerning France) an abattoir (a public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc.)
    • 1836 October 17, Den Constitutionelle, page 2:
      man betænker, hvilke uhyre mængde kvæg der mellem aar og dag bliver slagtet i Parises abattoirs
      one considers the enormous amount of cattle slaughtered in Paris' abattoirs between year and day
    • 1928 September 13, A-magasinet, page 2:
      abbatoirene [sic] i Rue de Flanders
      the abattoirs [sic] in Rue de Flanders
    Synonyms: slaktehus, slakteri

References
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