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hecatomb

 
Dictionary: hec·a·tomb   (hĕk'ə-tōm') pronunciation
n.
  1. A large-scale sacrifice or slaughter.
  2. A sacrifice to the ancient Greek and Roman gods consisting originally of 100 oxen or cattle.

[Latin hecatombē, from Greek hekatombē : hekaton, hundred + -bē, oxen.]


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Wordsmith Words: hecatomb
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(HEK-uh-toom, -tom) pronunciation

noun
A large-scale slaughter.

Etymology
Originally a hecatomb was a public sacrifice and feast of 100 oxen or cattle to the gods in ancient Greece and Rome. The word is derived from Latin hekatombe, from Greek hekatombe, from hekaton (hundred) + bous (ox). Another word derived from bous (ox) is boustrophedon boustrophedon. ]

Usage
"The use of high-tech weapons will result in hecatombs, smart as the US bombs may be." — Lost Values; Kathimerini (Athens, Greece); Mar 17, 2003.


Thesaurus: hecatomb
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noun

    One or more living creatures slain and offered to a deity as part of a religious rite: immolation, offering, sacrifice, victim. See religion.

hecatomb in Greece, originally the sacrifice of a hundred oxen (hekaton bous); the term came to be used even in Homer of any great sacrifice of animals. Hekatombaion was the name of a month at Athens, ‘the time when hecatombs are offered’.

Obscure Words: hecatomb
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[fr. L. hecatombe < Gk hekatombe]  /HEK uh tome/ (or -tum)
1) an ancient Greek and Roman sacrifice consisting typically of 100 oxen or cattle  transf. and fig.: 2) the sacrifice or slaughter of many victims 3) a large number or quantity
Wikipedia: Hecatomb
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In Ancient Greece, a Hecatomb (Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη / hekatómbê) was a sacrifice to the gods of 100 cattle (hecaton = one hundred). Hecatombs were offered to Greek gods Apollo, Athena, and Hera, during special religious ceremonies.[1]

In the Iliad hecatombs are described formulaically. The following is one instance, from Samuel Butler's translation:

[T]hey ranged the holy hecatomb all orderly round the altar of the god. They washed their hands and took up the barley-meal to sprinkle over the victims [cattle], while [the priest] lifted up his hands and prayed aloud on their behalf.
...
When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal, they drew back the heads of the victims and killed and flayed them. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them, and then [the priest] laid them on the wood fire and poured wine over them, while the young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands. When the thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon the spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew them off: then, when they had finished their work and the feast was ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, pages filled the mixing-bowl with wine and water and handed it round, after giving every man his drink-offering.
Thus all day long the young men worshipped the god with song, hymning him and chaunting the joyous paean, and the god took pleasure in their voices[.]

See also

References


Translations: Hecatomb
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - hekatombe

Nederlands (Dutch)
hecatombe (offeringen in grote getale)

Français (French)
n. - hécatombe

Deutsch (German)
n. - großes öffentliches Opfer (im alten Rom oder Griechenland), Großzahl von Opfern

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ., μτφ.) εκατόμβη

Italiano (Italian)
ecatombe

Português (Portuguese)
n. - hecatombe (f)

Русский (Russian)
гекатомба, массовое убийство людей, несметное число

Español (Spanish)
n. - hecatombe

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hekatomb

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
大杀戮, 大献祭, 大屠杀

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大殺戮, 大獻祭, 大屠殺

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 황소 백 마리의 제물, 대학살

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 多数の犠牲

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ذبيحه مئه ثور عند قدماء اليونان والرومان, مجزرة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טקס זביחת 001 פרים ביוון וברומא העתיקות, טבח‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hecatomb" Read more
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