macabre

English

WOTD - 31 October 2010    

Etymology

From French macabre, whose etymology is uncertain.

Most commonly believed to be from corruption of the biblical name Maccabees; compare French danse macabre, presumably from Latin Chorea Machabæorum.

Possibly from Spanish macabro, from Arabic مقابر (maqābir, “tombs, cemeteries”), plural of مقبرة (maqbara or maqbura) or of مقبر (maqbar), but the Arabic etymology is rejected by Romance linguists.

Possibly from Amharic "maqaber" for grave, but this etymology remains rejected by most linguistics.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /məˈkɑːbrə/, /məˈkɑːbə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA: /məˈkɑb/, /məˈkɑbɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: McCobb

Adjective

macabre (comparative more macabre, superlative most macabre)

1. Representing or personifying death.
   • 1941, George C. Booth, Mexico's School-made Society, page 106

     There are four fundamental figures. One is a man measuring and comparing his world […] In front of him is a macabre figure, a cadaver ready to be dissected. This symbolizes man serving mankind. The third figure is the scientist, the man who makes use of the information gathered in the first two fields of mensurable science.

2. Obsessed with death or the gruesome.
   • 1993, Theodore Ziolkowski, "Wagner's Parsifal between Mystery and Mummery", in Werner Sollors (ed.), The Return of Thematic Criticism, pages 274-275

     Indeed, in the 1854 draft of Tristan he planned to have Parzival visit the dying knight, and both operas display the same macabre obsession with bloody gore and festering wounds.

3. Ghastly, shocking, terrifying.
   • 1927 [1938], H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, Introduction

     The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from every-day life.

Synonyms

• (ghastly): ghastly, horrifying, shocking, terrifying

Derived terms

• danse macabre

Translations

representing or personifying death

Basque: makabro (eu) Catalan: macabre (ca) Dutch: macaber (nl) French: macabre (fr) German: makaber (de)

Portuguese: macabro (pt) Romanian: macabru (ro) Romansch: macaber (rm) Spanish: macabro (es)

obsessed with death

French: macabre (fr) , morbide (fr) , gothique (fr) , thanatophile (fr) Romanian: macabru (ro)

Spanish: macabro (es) , gótico (es) mórbido (es)

ghastly, shocking, terrifying

French: macabre (fr) , sinistre (fr) lugubre (fr) , morbide (fr) , funèbre (fr) , funeste (fr), effrayant (fr) , horrible (fr) German: grausig (de) Polish: makabryczny (pl) m.

Romanian: îngrozitor (ro) Spanish: macabro (es) , funesto (es) , siniestro (es) , horroroso (es) , horrendo (es) , fúnebre (es) , lúgubre (es)

Anagrams

• carbeam

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Catalan

Adjective

macabre m. (feminine macabra, masculine plural macabres, feminine plural macabres)

1. macabre

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ma.kabʁ/

Adjective

macabre (epicene, plural macabres)

1. macabre

Synonyms

• lugubre

Derived terms

• danse macabre

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Italian

Adjective

macabre f. pl.

1. Feminine plural of macabro

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA: [maˈka.bre]

Adjective

macabre

1. feminine plural nominative form of macabru
2. feminine plural accusative form of macabru
3. neuter plural nominative form of macabru
4. neuter plural accusative form of macabru