The following is a list of events for which one of the commonly accepted names includes the word "
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
".
Definition
''
Massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
'' is defined in the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'' as "the indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people or (less commonly) animals; carnage, butchery, slaughter in numbers". It also states that the term is used "in the names of certain massacres of history".
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
Massacre, n.
The first recorded use in English of the word ''massacre'' in the name of an event is due to
Christopher Marlowe, who in c. 1600 referred to what is now known as the
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre as "The massacre at Paris".
["Marlowe (c. 1600) (''title'') The massacre at Paris". ]Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
Massacre, n.
''Massacre'' can also be used as a verb, as "To kill (people or, less commonly, animals) in numbers, esp. brutally and indiscriminately".
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
Massacre, v. The first usage of which was "(c. 1588) Men which make no conscience for gaine sake, to breake the law of the æternall, and massaker soules (...) are dangerous subjects",
and this usage is not recorded in this list.
There are many alternative terms with similar connotations, such as
butchery,
carnage,
bloodbath,
mass killing,
atrocity, etc. as well as euphemisms such as ''
Vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , mea ...
'', ''
Blutgericht'' or "attack", "incident", "tragedy" (etc.), use of which are outside the scope of this list.
''Massacre'' is also used figuratively to describe dramatic events that did not involve any deaths, such as the "
Hilo massacre" and the "
Saturday Night Massacre"; this usage is also outside of the scope of this list.
Before or in 1945
After 1945
See also
*
:Massacres
**
:Lists of massacres by country
*
Genocides in history
*
List of battles and other violent events by death toll
*
List of events named pogrom
*
List of genocides by death toll
*
List of massacres at sea
*
List of massacres in the United States
*
List of terrorist incidents
*
List of mass car bombings
*
Crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
References
External links
*
* World History Database,
Alphabetic Listing of Battles' Index of World battles.
* Radford, Robert,
'. An extensive list of important battles and influential leaders, from −490 BC to present times.
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