hecatombe

See also: hécatombe

Dutch

Alternative forms

• hekatombe

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin hecatombe, from Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɦeː.kɑˈtɔm.bə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

hecatombe f (plural hecatomben or hecatombes)

1. (Greco-Roman religion) hecatomb, public sacrifice involving many sacrificial animals
2. (figuratively) carnage, massacre, any great loss of life whether intentional or not

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /he.kaˈtom.beː/, [hɛkäˈt̪ɔmbeː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e.kaˈtom.be/, [ekäˈt̪ɔmbe]

Noun

hecatombē f (genitive hecatombēs); first declension

1. a hecatomb, a great sacrifice of a hundred oxen

Declension

First-declension noun (Greek-type).

	singular	plural
nominative	hecatombē	hecatombae
genitive	hecatombēs	hecatombārum
dative	hecatombae	hecatombīs
accusative	hecatombēn	hecatombās
ablative	hecatombē	hecatombīs
vocative	hecatombē	hecatombae

References

• “hecatombe”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “hecatombe”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• hecatombe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “hecatombe”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “hecatombe”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• hecatomba

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin hecatombē, from Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.kaˈtõ.bi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.kaˈtõ.bi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.kaˈtõ.be/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɛ.kɐˈtõ.bɨ/

• Hyphenation: he‧ca‧tom‧be

Noun

hecatombe f (plural hecatombes)

1. (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) hecatomb
2. (figurative) slaughter, bloodbath
3. (figurative) disaster, catastrophe, calamity

Related terms

• cem
• boi

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin hecatombē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ekaˈtombe/ [e.kaˈt̪õm.be]
• Rhymes: -ombe
• Syllabification: he‧ca‧tom‧be

Noun

hecatombe f (plural hecatombes)

1. slaughter; bloodbath
   • 1877, Benito Pérez Galdós, Gloria:

     la excelente mujer no durmió en la noche del 24, porque toda ella se la pasó de claro en claro, ora batiendo huevos, que por centenares fueron vaciados en un desaforado artesón; ora desplumando aves, que al anochecer perecieron en horrorosa hecatombe.

     The most excellent woman did not sleep on the night of the 24th, because she spent it sleeplessly, be it beating eggs, which were emptied by the hundreds into an outrageous coffer; plucking birds, which at nightfall perished in a horrifying slaughter.

2. hecatomb
   • 2021 May 3, Juan José Mateo, “De la libertad a las amenazas de muerte: seis instantes clave de la campaña más polémica”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Si no la consigue, y tras la hecatombe de las últimas generales y las últimas catalanas, certificará que el proyecto que impulsó Albert Rivera a escala nacional en 2015 corre peligro de muerte.

     If he does not get it, and after the hecatomb of the last general elections and the last Catalan ones, he will certify that the project promoted by Albert Rivera on a national scale in 2015 is in danger of death.

Further reading

• “hecatombe”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28