Bloodbath

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈblʌdˌbɑːθ/

Definitions

1. A massacre or slaughter involving the death of many people, typically in a violent confrontation or conflict
2. A scene of extreme violence resulting in significant fatalities, often associated with a brutal confrontation or large-scale conflict
3. An event marked by intense bloodshed and loss of life, commonly arising from fierce battles or brutal assaults

Etymology: The word is a plain compound of "blood" and "bath," and the second part carries the surprise. A bath in this sense is not a place for washing but a immersion, a deluge: to bathe in something is to be drenched in it. So a bloodbath is, literally, a drenching in blood, a picture that the English word has kept since it was first put together. The same compound turns up across the Germanic languages. Dutch "bloedbad," German "Blutbad," Swedish "blodbad," and Icelandic "blóðbad" all share the same structure and meaning, which points to a shared pattern of building words from "blood" and "bath" rather than a single borrowing from one language into another.

Synonyms: massacre, slaughter, carnage, bloodshed, butchery

Antonyms: peace, harmony, calm, safety, order