Yahoo Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   hecatomb

   /ˈhɛkətuːm/

   noun

   • 1. (in ancient Greece or Rome) a great public sacrifice, originally of a hundred oxen: "After Pythagoras discovered his fundamental theorem he sacrificed a hecatomb of oxen"
   • ▪ an extensive loss of life: "excessive urbanization, global warming, and various pollutions are at the origin of this hecatomb"

   Word Origin late 16th century: via Latin from Greek hekatombē (from hekaton ‘hundred’ + bous ‘ox’).

   Scrabble Points: 17

   • H

     4

   • E

     1

   • C

     3

   • A

     1

   • T

     1

   • O

     1

   • M

     3

   • B

     3

   Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

   More definitions, origin and scrabble points