slaught

English

Etymology

From Middle English slaught, slagt, slaȝt, from Old English slæht, sleaht, sleht, slieht (“a stroke, a striking, a flash of lightning, slaughter, murder, death by violence, the deadly stroke of disease, battle, what is to be killed, animals for slaughter”), from Proto-Germanic *slahtō, *slahtiz (“beating, hitting, killing, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *slek- (“to beat, pound”).

Cognate with Dutch slacht (“slaughter”), German Schlacht (“killing, battle”), Swedish slakt (“slaughter”), Icelandic slátta (“slaughter”). Related to English slay.

Noun

slaught (plural slaughts)

1. Killing; slaughter.

Derived terms

• manslaught (whence manslaughter)
• onslaught

See also

• slaught-beam (probably, but not necessarily, etymologically unrelated)