butcher

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a retailer of meat
  2. noun a brutal indiscriminate murderer
  3. noun a person who slaughters or dresses meat for market

Etymology

From Middle English bocher, boucher, from Old French bouchier (“goat slaughterer”), from Old French bouc (“goat”), from Medieval Latin buccus (“he-goat”), from Frankish *bukk, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz (“male goat, male deer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuǵ- (“buck, ram”). See also English buck.

In classic literature

Synonyms

meatman

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