# slaught-beam

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈslɔːt.biːm/

## Definitions
1. Barrier.

## Etymology
Probably a calque of Dutch slagboom or German Schlagbaum. These are etymologically equivalent to English slay + beam, meaning a beam that can be banged (“slain”) down. The word slaught (related with slay) would have been chosen because it is phonetically closer to the continental words.
Alternatively it might be a phono-semantic matching of Dutch sluitboom, which has the same sense, but literally means “closing beam”. In this case, however, the etymological relation between the element slaught and the above-mentioned words would be a curious coincidence.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/slaught-beam