abattoir
ab·at·toir/ˈæb.əˌtwɑɹ/noun
abattoir is spelled A-B-A-T-T-O-I-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables (ab·at·toir). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,954th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, abattoir means “A public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of abattoir is abattoirs.
How many letters and syllables are in abattoir?
| Letters | 8: A-B-A-T-T-O-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ab·at·toir |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 52,954th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is abattoir?
Abattoir appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,954th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce abattoir?
- UK /ˈæb.əˌtwɑː(ɹ)/
- US /ˈæb.əˌtwɑɹ/
- US /ˈæb.əˌtwɑ/
Abattoir has 3 syllables, split ab·at·toir in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-abattoir.ogg, En-ca-abattoir.ogg, En-au-abattoir.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of abattoir
- abattoirs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abattoir mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc.
Once the cows reach maturity, they're sent to the abattoir.
- 2
A place or event of great carnage or bloodshed.
The army's raid on the enemy turned into a major abattoir.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abattoir in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense public slaughterhouse:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | abattoir |
| German | Schlachthaus, Schlachthof |
| Portuguese | matadouro, açougue, abatedouro |
| Spanish | matadero, desolladero, degolladero, rastro |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does abattoir come from?
Borrowed from French abattoir, from abattre (“to slaughter”) (cognate to abate) + -oir (“-ory”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).