A Word A Day — hecatomb

with Anu Garg

hecatomb

(HEK-uh-toom, -tom)

noun: A large-scale slaughter.

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.

“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.

He who sees a need and waits to be asked for help is as unkind as if he had refused it. -Dante Alighieri, poet (1265-1321)