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ABATTOIR

 - 3 dictionary results

ab⋅at⋅toir

  [ab-uh-twahr, ab-uh-twahr]
Use ABATTOIR in a Sentence
–noun
a slaughterhouse.
Origin:
1810–20; < F, equiv. to abatt(re) to slaughter (see abate ) + -oir -ory 2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ab·at·toir   (āb'ə-twär')   
n.  

  1. A slaughterhouse.

  2. Something likened to a slaughterhouse: "The hand of God and mankind's self-inflicted blows seem equally heavy ... giving a strong cumulative impression of the world as an abattoir" (Manchester Guardian Weekly).


[French, from abattre, to strike down, from Old French; see abate.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

abattoir 
"slaughterhouse for cows," 1820, from Fr. abattre "to beat down" (see abate).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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