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car·nage

(kärnĭj)

a. Large-scale killing or maiming, as in war or an accident.

b. A number of violently killed or maimed bodies.

2. Informal Overwhelming defeat, loss, or destruction.

[French, ultimately variant (possibly of Norman dialectal French or Picard origin or influenced by Old Provençal carnatge, carnage) of Old French charnage : charn, variant of char, flesh, meat (from Latin carō, carn-; see sker-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots) + -age, -age.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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