carrion

See also: Carrion and Carrión

English

Etymology

From Middle English caroigne, borrowed from Anglo-Norman caroigne, from Vulgar Latin *carōnia, from Latin caro (“flesh”). Compare French charogne and the English doublet crone.

The regular modern English form would be *carren, *carron /ˈkæɹ.ən/ (this is found dialectally; see similar kyarn); the intervening /i/ is probably a hypercorrection based on the analogy of words like merlin/merlion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæ.ɹi.ən/
• (dialectal or obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈkæɹ.ən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

carrion (usually uncountable, plural carrions)

1. (chiefly uncountable) Dead flesh; carcasses.

   Vultures feed on carrion.

   • 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:

     They did eat the dead carrions.

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

     He brought down with him to our haunted house a little cask of salt beef; for, he is always convinced that all salt beef not of his own pickling, is mere carrion […]

   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, paperback edition, Vintage Classics, page 119:

     Perhaps the Purple Emperor is feasting, as Morris says, upon a mass of putrid carrion at the base of an oak tree.

2. (countable, obsolete, derogatory) A contemptible or worthless person.
   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     Old feeble carrions.

Derived terms

• carrion beetle
• carrion crow
• carrion flower

Translations

dead flesh; carcasses

• Afrikaans: karkas
• Albanian: kërmë (sq), shtrek (sq)
• Arabic: جِيفة‎ (jīfa), فَطِيسَة‎ (faṭīsa)
• Armenian: լեշ (hy) (leš), գեշ (hy) (geš)
• Azerbaijani: cəmdək, leş
• Bashkir: емтек (yemtek), үләкһә (üläkhä)
• Basque: haratustel
• Bulgarian: мъ́рша (bg) f (mǎ́rša), леш (bg) m (leš)
• Catalan: carronya (ca) f, rossa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 屍體／尸体 (zh) (shītǐ), 腐肉 (zh) (fǔròu) (slough)

• Czech: mršina f, zdechlina (cs) f
• Danish: ådsel (da) n, kadaver (da) n
• Dutch: kadaver (nl) n, aas (nl) n, kreng (nl) n, karkas (nl) n
• Faroese: ræ
• Finnish: haaska (fi), raato (fi)
• French: charogne (fr) f
• Georgian: ლეში (leši)
• German: Aas (de) n, Kadaver (de) m
• Greek: θνησιμαίο (el) n (thnisimaío), κουφάρι (el) n (koufári), ψοφίμι (el) n (psofími)

  Ancient: κενέβρεια n pl (kenébreia)

• Hebrew: נְבֵלָה‎ (he) f (nevelá), פֶּגֶר‎ (he) m (péger)
• Hungarian: döghús (hu), dög (hu), tetem (hu), hulla (hu)
• Irish: ablach m
• Italian: carogna (it) f
• Japanese: 骸 (ja) (mukuro), 死肉 (しにく, shiniku), 腐肉 (ふにく, funiku)
• Latin: cadaver n, morticīnus f
• Latvian: maita f
• Maori: pera
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: виля (viĺa)

• Mongolian: улай (mn) (ulaj)
• Norwegian: åtsel n, kadaver n
• Old English: ǣs n
• Ottoman Turkish: لاش‎ (leş)
• Polish: padlina (pl) f
• Portuguese: carniça (pt) f
• Romanian: mortăciune (ro) f, stârv (ro)
• Russian: па́даль (ru) f (pádalʹ), мертвечи́на (ru) f (mertvečína), дохля́тина (ru) f (doxljátina) (colloquial), мертвя́тина (ru) f (mertvjátina)
• Slovak: zdochlina f
• Slovene: mrhovina (sl) f
• Spanish: carroña (es) f
• Swedish: as (sv) n, kadaver (sv) n
• Tarifit: amurḍus m
• Turkish: leş (tr)
• Ukrainian: па́даль f (pádalʹ), па́дло n (pádlo), мертве́ччина f (mertvéččyna), мертвечи́на f (mertvečýna), дохля́тина f (doxljátyna) (colloquial)
• Volapük: nimafun

(obsolete in English) contemptible or worthless person

• Finnish: haaska (fi)
• German: Aas (de) n
• Hungarian: dög (hu)