One way to hold this word: a butcher at a block, with a blade and a whole animal in front of him. Everything the word does comes from that scene, and it depends on how the blade is used. Used with skill, it is a trade, and the place where the trade happens takes the same name. Used on people, it becomes the ugliest thing you can say about a killing. Used on something that was whole — a song, a name, a piece of work — it means the thing has been hacked to pieces.
From the word’s history
The packet source traces butchery to Middle English bocherie, from Old French, in the family of butcher — so the trade sense is where the word starts.
來源資料說 butchery 來自中古英語 bocherie，再往前是古法語，和 butcher（屠夫）同一家。這正好說明為什麼「屠夫的工作」是這個字的出發點，其他意思都是從那把刀延伸出去的。
Wiktionary etymology supplied in this packet: From Middle English bocherie, from Old French. See butcher for more.
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。