hecatomb (n.)

1590s, from Latinized form of Greek hekatombe, properly (and literally) "offering of 100 oxen," but generally "a great public sacrifice." It is a compound of hekaton "one hundred," which perhaps is dissimilation of *hem-katon, with hen, neuter of heis "one" + *katon "hundred." The second element is bous "ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"). The first month of the Attic calendar (corresponding to July-August) was Hekatombaion, in which sacrifices were made.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to hecatomb

hectare (n.)

1817, from French hectare "a hundred ares," formed from Latinized form of Greek hekaton "a hundred" (see hecatomb) + Latin area "vacant piece of ground" (see area). A superficial measure equal to 100 ares, coined by decree of the French National Convention in 1795.

*gwou-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "ox, bull, cow," perhaps ultimately imitative of lowing; compare Sumerian gu, Chinese ngu, ngo "ox."

It forms all or part of: beef; Boeotian; Bosphorus; boustrophedon; bovine; bugle; Bucephalus; bucolic; buffalo; bugloss; bulimia; butane; butter; butyl; butyric; cow (n.); cowbell; cowboy; cowlick; cowslip; Euboea; Gurkha; hecatomb; kine.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit gaus, Greek bous, Latin bos, Old Irish bo, Latvian guovs, Armenian gaus, Old English cu, German Kuh, Old Norse kyr, Slovak hovado "cow, ox."

In Germanic and Celtic, of females only; in most other languages, of either gender. For "cow" Latin uses bos femina or vacca, a separate word of unknown origin. Other "cow" words sometimes are from roots meaning "horn, horned," such as Lithuanian karvė, Old Church Slavonic krava.

*dekm-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "ten."

It forms all or part of: cent; centenarian; centenary; centi-; centime; centurion; century; centennial; cinquecento; dean; deca-; decade; decagon; Decalogue; Decameron; decapod; decathlon; December; decennial; deci-; decile; decimal; decimate; decimation; decuple; decussate; denarius; denier (n.) "French coin;" dicker; dime; dinar; doyen; dozen; duodecimal; duodecimo; eighteen; fifteen; fourteen; hecatomb; hendeca-; hundred; icosahedron; nineteen; nonagenarian; octogenarian; Pentecost; percent; quattrocento; Septuagint; sexagenarian; seventeen; sixteen; ten; tenth; thirteen; thousand; tithe; -ty (1).

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit dasa, Avestan dasa, Armenian tasn, Greek deka, Latin decem (source of Spanish diez, French dix), Old Church Slavonic deseti, Lithuanian dešimt, Old Irish deich, Breton dek, Welsh deg, Albanian djetu, Old English ten, Old High German zehan, Gothic taihun "ten."

Trends of hecatomb

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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sacrifice

late 13c., "the offering of something (especially a life) to a deity as an act of propitiation, homage, etc.;" mid-14c., "that which is offered (to a deity) in sacrifice," from Old French sacrifise "sacrifice, offering" (12c.), from Latin sacrificium, from sacrificus "performing

hen

"the female of the domestic fowl," Old English henn "hen," from West Germanic *hannjo (source also of Old Frisian henn, Middle Dutch henne, Old High German henna), fem. of *hanan- "male fowl, cock" (source of Old English hana "cock"), literally "bird who sings (for sunrise)," fro

Elizabeth

fem. proper name, Biblical name of the wife of Aaron, from Late Latin Elisabeth, from Greek Eleisabeth, Eleisabet, from Hebrew Elishebha "God is an oath," the second element said by Klein to be related to shivah (fem. sheva) "seven," and to nishba "he swore," originally "he bound

nice

late 13c., "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + stem of scire "to

succession

early 14c., successioun, "fact or right of succeeding someone by inheritance," from Old French succession "inheritance; a following on" (13c.) and directly from Latin successionem (nominative successio) "a following after, a coming into another's place, result," noun of action fr

ponder

mid-14c., ponderen, "to estimate the worth of, to appraise" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French ponderer "to weigh, poise" (14c., Modern French pondérer) and directly from Latin ponderare "ponder, consider, reflect," literally "to weigh," from pondus (genitive ponderis) "weig

issue

c. 1300, "an exit," from Old French issue "a way out, a going out, exit; final event," from fem. past participle of issir "to go out," from Latin exire "go out, go forth; become public; flow, gush, pour forth" (source also of Italian uscire, Catalan exir), from ex- "out" (see ex-

chicken

Middle English chiken, from Old English cicen (plural cicenu) "young of the domestic hen, the young of any bird;" by early Middle English, "any chicken," regardless of age, from Proto-Germanic *kiukinam (source also of Middle Dutch kiekijen, Dutch kieken, Old Norse kjuklingr, Swe

zeal

"passionate ardor in pursuit of an objective or course of action," late 14c., from Old French zel (Modern French zèle) and directly from Late Latin zelus "zeal, emulation" (source also of Italian zelo, Spanish celo), a Church word, from Greek zēlos "ardor, eager rivalry, emulatio

draconian

1759, "of or pertaining to Draco," the ancient Greek statesman; 1777, in reference to laws, "rigorous, extremely severe or harsh" (earlier Draconic, which is implied from 1640s). Draco is the Latinized form of Greek Drakon, name of the archon of Athens who laid down a code of law

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updated on January 21, 2019

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hecatomb

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