hecatomb

noun

hec·​a·​tomb ˈhe-kə-ˌtōm 

1

: an ancient Greek and Roman sacrifice of 100 oxen or cattle

2

: the sacrifice or slaughter of many victims

Examples of hecatomb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And if, as Gawande suggests, an individual surgeon’s expertise proceeds by means of a calculated willingness to make mistakes, then the profession marches forward only by trampling over a hecatomb of nameless victims. —Will Self, Harper’s Magazine , 28 Sep. 2022

The vast majority of this hecatomb would be people with limited life expectancies. —John P.a. Ioannidis, STAT, 17 Mar. 2020

After the hecatombs created in communism’s name, such a call to arms is evidence of a faith untroubled when prophecy fails again and again. —Andrew Stuttaford, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Latin hecatombe, from Greek hekatombē, from hekaton hundred + -bē; akin to Greek bous cow — more at hundred, cow

First Known Use

circa 1592, in the meaning defined at sense 1