abattoir

American  

[ab-uh-twahr, ab-uh-twahr] / ˈæb əˌtwɑr, ˌæb əˈtwɑr /

noun

1. a slaughterhouse.

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abattoir British  

/ ˈæbəˌtwɑː /

noun

1. another name for slaughterhouse

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Etymology

Origin of abattoir

1810–20; < French, equivalent to abatt ( re ) to slaughter ( see abate) + -oir -ory ²

Explanation

An abattoir is a slaughterhouse, or a place where animals are killed. It's not a word you're likely to hear or use unless you're involved in these activities. However, break abattoir into its component parts, abate + -ory, and things get a lot more interesting. -Ory is simple: it means "a place for," as in factory, laboratory, and even auditorium. Abate is more complex. Today it means "to lessen," but back when it came to English via the Old French abattre, it meant "to beat down," a meaning Old French had inherited from the Latin ad ("to") + battere ("beat"). So when you think of abattoir, you can think of the idea of "a beating," or an animal's life "abating" until it is gone.