Etymograph

English

hecatomb

Hecatomb comes from Latin hecatombē ‘great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἑκατόμβηhekatómbē‘great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhecatombē‘great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1598hecatomb

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἑκατόμβηhekatómbē‘great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhecatombē‘great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1598hecatomb

Earliest quotation: 1598, John Marston, The Works of John Marston. […] (Library of Old Authors): “O hecatombe! O catastrophe! / From Mydas pompe to…”

The story

The noun is a learned borrowing from Latin hecatombē (‘great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb’), from Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē, “great sacrifice of a hundred oxen, hecatomb; any animal sacrifice or large sacrifice”, from ἑκᾰτόν (hekătón, “hundred”) + βοῦς (boûs, “cattle, cow, ox”)).

Every English word from Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη

Today it means

noun A great public sacrifice to the gods, originally of a hundred oxen; also, a great number of animals reserved for such a sacrifice.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἑκατόμβη / hecatomb

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