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carnage

 - 3 dictionary results

car⋅nage

  [kahr-nij]
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–noun
1. the slaughter of a great number of people, as in battle; butchery; massacre.
2. Archaic. dead bodies, as of those slain in battle.
Origin:
1590–1600; < MF < It carnaggio < ML carnāticum payment or offering in meat, equiv. to L carn- (s. of carō) flesh + -āticum -age
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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car·nage   (kär'nĭj)   
n.  

  1. Massive slaughter, as in war; a massacre.

  2. Corpses, especially of those killed in battle.


[French, from Old French, from Old Italian carnaggio, from Medieval Latin carnāticum, meat, from Latin carō, carn-, flesh; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
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

carnage 
1600, from M.Fr. carnage, from O.It. carnaggio "slaughter, murder," from M.L. carnaticum "flesh," often "meat supplied by tenants in tribute to a feudal lord," from L. carnaticum "slaughter of animals," from caro (acc. carnem) "flesh."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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