I wonder if you can help me fine-tune my sense of connotation?
As far as one can tell from the citations in the OED, the earliest uses in
English of the word 'massacre' date from the 1580s. It strikes me as an
interesting possibility (but nb I have no hard evidence for this) that the
word was introduced by Huguenot refugees, and/or may have gained some
currency from the recent memory of St Bartholomew's Day 1572. What I'd be
interested to know is, was there at this time any sense that use of the word
'massacre' (rather than say an English equivalent such as 'slaughter')
carried a particular religious or even sectarian connotation?
It would be relatively easy to come up with examples that might imply as
much, from Spenser's reference 'massacred martyrs' in FQ III.iii to Milton's
'Massacre at Piemont' - and of course, there's the title of Marlowe's play.
On the other hand, mass killings often do have a religious dimension, so
even if the word were being used in a connotation-free way, as it were, the
law of averages suggests that it would still sometimes occur in a religious
context. Also, there are other quite early uses of the word that don't seem
to have a religious overtone to them at all.
Any thoughts?
Charlie
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