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slaughter

slaugh·terUK /ˈslɔːtə/noun, verb

slaughter is spelled S-L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R: 9 letters and 2 syllables (slaugh·ter). It appears 6.9 times per million words in written English, the 9,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, slaughter means “The killing of animals, generally for food” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of slaughter is slaughters.

How many letters and syllables are in slaughter?

Letters9: S-L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R
Syllables2: slaugh·ter
In writing6.9 times per million words; the 9,045th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 slaughter?

Slaughter appears 6.9 times per million words in written English, the 9,045th 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 slaughter?

  • UK /ˈslɔːtə/
  • British /ˈsloːtə/
  • /ˈslɔtəɾ/

Slaughter has 2 syllables, split slaugh·ter in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-slaughter.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of slaughter

  • slaughters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • slaughtering participle, present
  • slaughtered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does slaughter mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The killing of animals, generally for food.

  2. 2

    A massacre; the killing of a large number of people.

  3. 3

    rareA mass destruction of non-living things.

  4. 4

    A rout or decisive defeat.

  5. 5

    A group of iguanas.

verb

  1. 1

    To butcher animals, generally for food.

  2. 2

    To massacre people in large numbers.

  3. 3

    To kill someone or something, especially in a particularly brutal manner.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Slaughter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchabattage (killing of animals), carnage, tuerie, massacre (killing of many people), abattre (to butcher animals, generally for food), massacrer (to massacre people in large numbers)
GermanSchlachtung, Schächtung, Keulung, Notschlachtung (killing of animals), Schlächterei (killing of many people), schlachten (to butcher animals, generally for food)
Portuguesematança (killing of animals), carnificina, massacre, chacina (killing of many people), matar, abater (to butcher animals, generally for food)
Spanishmatanza (killing of animals), masacre, carnicería (killing of many people), matar, carnear (to butcher animals, generally for food), escabechina (a decisive defeat)

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 slaughter come from?

From Middle English slaughter, from Old Norse *slahtr, later sláttr, from Proto-Germanic *slahtrą, from Proto-Germanic *slahaną. Equivalent to slay + -ter (as in laughter). Eventually derived from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, strike, throw”). Related with Dutch slachten, German schlachten, Finnish lahdata (all “to slaughter”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after slaughter