hecatomb
he·ca·tomb/ˈhɛkətoʊm/noun, verb
hecatomb is spelled H-E-C-A-T-O-M-B: 8 letters and 3 syllables (he·ca·tomb). It appears about once in every 68 million words in written English, the 258,950th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hecatomb means “A great public sacrifice to the gods, originally of a hundred oxen; also, a great number of animals reserved for such a sacrifice” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hecatomb is hecatombs.
How many letters and syllables are in hecatomb?
| Letters | 8: H-E-C-A-T-O-M-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: he·ca·tomb |
| In writing | about once in every 68 million words; the 258,950th 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 hecatomb?
Hecatomb appears about once in every 68 million words in written English, the 258,950th 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 hecatomb?
- UK /ˈhɛkətuːm/
- UK /-tɒm/
- US /ˈhɛkətoʊm/
Hecatomb has 3 syllables, split he·ca·tomb in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hecatomb.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hecatomb
- hecatombs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hecatombing participle, present
- hecatombed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hecatomb mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A great public sacrifice to the gods, originally of a hundred oxen; also, a great number of animals reserved for such a sacrifice.
- 2
A great public sacrifice in other religions; also, a great number of animals or people reserved for such a sacrifice.
- 3
A great number of animals, people, or things that are sacrificed or destroyed; any great sacrifice; also (generally), a large amount.
verb
- 1
To provide (someone or something) with a hecatomb.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hecatomb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense great public sacrifice to the gods, originally of a hundred oxen; great number o:
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 hecatomb come from?
The noun is a learned borrowing from Latin hecatombē (“great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb”), from Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē, “great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb; any animal sacrifice or large sacrifice”, from ἑκᾰτόν (hekătón, “hundred”) + βοῦς (boûs, “cattle, cow, ox”)). The verb is derived from the noun.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).