Table of Contents
The word for today is…
macabre (adj) – 1. Upsetting or horrifying by association with death or injury; gruesome.
2. Constituting or including a representation of death.
Source : The Free Dictionary
Etymology : We trace the origins of macabre to the name of the Book of Maccabees, which is included in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons of the Old Testament and in the Protestant Apocrypha. Sections of this biblical text address both the deaths of faithful people asked to renounce their religion and the manner in which the dead should be properly commemorated. In medieval France, representations of these passages were performed as what became known as the “dance of death” or “dance Maccabee,” which was spelled in several different ways, including danse macabre. In English, macabre was originally used in reference to this “dance of death” and then gradually came to refer to anything grim or gruesome.
If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends.
