different between massacre vs battle

English

Alternative forms

• massacer (archaic)

Etymology

1580, from Middle French massacre, from Old French macacre, marcacre, macecre, macecle (“slaughterhouse, butchery”), usually thought to be deverbal from Old French macecrer, macecler (“to slaughter”), though the noun seems to be attested somewhat earlier. It is also found in Medieval Latin mazacrium (“massacre, slaughter, killing”, also “the head of a newly killed stag”). Further origin disputed:

• From Latin macellum (“butcher shop”).
• From Vulgar Latin *matteucul?re, from *matteuca (cf. massue), from Late Latin mattea, mattia, from Latin mateola.
• From Middle Low German *matskelen (“to massacre”) (compare German metzeln (“massacre”)), frequentative of matsken, matzgen (“to cut, hew”), from Proto-West Germanic *maitan, from Proto-Germanic *maitan? (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”). Akin to Old High German meizan (“to cut”) among others.
• Note also Arabic ?????????? (majzara), originally “spot where animals are slaughtered”, now also “massacre”, and in Maghrebi Arabic “slaughterhouse”. Derived from ??????? (jazara, “to cut, slaughter”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?mæs.?.k?/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?mæs.?.k?(?)/

Noun

massacre (countable and uncountable, plural massacres)

1. The killing of a considerable number (usually limited to people) where little or no resistance can be made, with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to civilized norms.
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act I, Scene v:

     I'll find a day to massacre them all,
     And raze their faction and their family

   St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

   St. Valentine's Day Massacre

   Amritsar Massacre

2. (obsolete) Murder.
   • 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third

     The tyrannous and bloody act is done,—
     The most arch deed of piteous massacre
     That ever yet this land was guilty of.

3. (figuratively) Any overwhelming defeat, as in a game or sport.

Synonyms

• (mass killing contrary to civilized norms): butchery, slaughter (in the manner of livestock); decimation (strictly an orderly selection of ? of a group for slaughter; see its entry for other terms concerning other ratios)

Hyponyms

• (mass killing contrary to civilized norms): atrocity; war crime; ethnic cleansing

Related terms

• carnage
• mass murder
• massacrer
• massacree

Translations

Verb

massacre (third-person singular simple present massacres, present participle massacring, simple past and past participle massacred)

1. (transitive) To kill in considerable numbers where little or no resistance can be made, with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to civilized norms. (Often limited to the killing of human beings.)
   • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History Of England From the Accession of James II

     If James should be pleased to massacre them all, as Maximilian had massacred the Theban legion

2. (figuratively) To win so decisively it is in the manner of so slaughtering one's opponent.
3. (figuratively) To give a performance so poorly it is in the manner of so slaughtering the musical piece, play etc being performed.

Translations

Anagrams

• Marescas, massacer

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French massacre.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /m??sa.k??/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ma?sa.k?e/

Noun

massacre f (plural massacres)

1. massacre

Related terms

• massacrar

Further reading

• “massacre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.sak?/

Etymology 1

From Middle French massacre, from the verb massacrer.

Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)

1. massacre

Related terms

• massacrer

Descendants

Etymology 2

Verb

massacre

1. first-person singular present indicative of massacrer
2. third-person singular present indicative of massacrer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of massacrer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of massacrer
5. second-person singular imperative of massacrer

Further reading

• “massacre” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• sacrâmes, sarcasme

Middle French

Etymology

Of disputed origin:

• Most likely from Old French macecrer, macecler, from Vulgar Latin *matteucul?re, from *matteuca (cf. massue), from Late Latin mattia, *mattea, from Latin mateola.
• From a derivative of Latin macellum (“butcher shop”), although this is less likely.
• From Old French macacre, macecle (“slaughterhouse, butchery”), alternatively from Medieval Latin mazacrium (“massacre, slaughter, killing”, also “the head of a newly killed stag”), from Middle Low German *matskelen (“to massacre”) (compare German metzeln (“massacre”)), frequentative of matsken, matzgen (“to cut, hew”), from Proto-West Germanic *maitan, from Proto-Germanic *maitan? (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”). Akin to Old High German meizan (“to cut”) among others.

Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)

1. massacre

Descendants

• French: massacre

Occitan

Etymology

From French massacre

Pronunciation

Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)

1. massacre

Related terms

• massacrar

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French massacre.

Pronunciation

Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)

1. massacre

Related terms

• massacrar
• massacrante

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?bæt?l/, [?bat???]
• (US) enPR: b?t'l, IPA^(key): /?bætl?/, [?bæ???], [bæt??]
• Rhymes: -æt?l
• Hyphenation: bat?tle

Etymology 1

From Middle English batel, batell, batelle, batayle, bataylle, borrowed from Old French bataille, from Late Latin batt?lia, variant of battu?lia (“fighting and fencing exercises”) from Latin battu? (“to strike, hit, beat, fight”), from a Gaulish root from Proto-Indo-European *b?ed?- (“to stab, dig”). Doublet of battalia and battel.

Displaced native Old English ?efeoht.

Alternative forms

• batail, battel, battell (14th–17th centuries)

Noun

battle (plural battles)

1. A contest, a struggle.
   • 1611, Bible (KJV), Ecclesiastes, 9:11:
2. (military) A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
3. (military, now rare) A division of an army; a battalion.
4. (military, obsolete) The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hayward to this entry?)

Derived terms

Related terms

• battlement

Translations

Verb

battle (third-person singular simple present battles, present participle battling, simple past and past participle battled)

1. (intransitive) To join in battle; to contend in fight

   Scientists always battle over theories.

   She has been battling against cancer for years.

2. (transitive) To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.

   She has been battling cancer for years.

Derived terms

• battle it out

Related terms

• embattle

Translations

Etymology 2

From Early Modern English batell, probably from Middle English *batel (“flourishing”), from Old English *batol (“improving, tending to be good”), from batian (“to get better, improve”) + -ol ( +? -le).

Alternative forms

• battil, battill, battel, baittle, bettle, batwell

Adjective

battle (comparative more battle, superlative most battle)

1. (Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England, agriculture) Improving; nutritious; fattening.

   battle grass, battle pasture

2. (Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England) Fertile; fruitful.

   battle soil, battle land

Derived terms

• overbattle

Verb

battle (third-person singular simple present battles, present participle battling, simple past and past participle battled)

1. (transitive, Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England) To nourish; feed.
2. (transitive, Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland, Northern England) To render (for example soil) fertile or fruitful

Related terms

• batful
• batten

Further reading

• battle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• battle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “battle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• batlet, battel, tablet