sanguinary

  • 1Sanguinary — San gui*na*ry, a. [L. sanguinarius, fr. sanguis blood: cf. F. sanguinaire.] 1. Attended with much bloodshed; bloody; murderous; as, a sanguinary war, contest, or battle. [1913 Webster] We may not propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2Sanguinary — San gui*na*ry, n. [L. herba sanguinaria an herb that stanches blood: cf. F. sanguinaire. See {Sanguinary}, a.] (Bot.) (a) The yarrow. (b) The Sanguinaria. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3sanguinary — index deadly, ruthless Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 4sanguinary — characterized by slaughter, 1620s, possibly from Fr. sanguinaire, or directly from L. sanguinarius pertaining to blood, from sanguis (gen. sanguinis) blood, of unknown origin. L. distinguished sanguis, the generic word, from cruor blood from a… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5sanguinary — ► ADJECTIVE chiefly archaic ▪ involving or causing much bloodshed …

    English terms dictionary

  • 6sanguinary — [saŋ′gwi ner΄ē] adj. [L sanguinarius < sanguis, blood] 1. accompanied by much bloodshed or carnage 2. flowing with blood; bloodstained 3. eager for bloodshed; bloodthirsty sanguinarily adv …

    English World dictionary

  • 7sanguinary — adjective Etymology: Latin sanguinarius, from sanguin , sanguis blood Date: circa 1623 1. bloodthirsty, murderous < sanguinary hatred > 2. attended by bloodshed ; bloody < this bitter and sanguinary war T. H. D. Mahoney > 3. consi …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 8sanguinary — adjective a) Accompanied by bloodshed. every one of which took its rise from some noble family that succeeded in grasping the purple after a sanguinary struggle. b) Eager for bloodshed; bloodthirsty. The defence set up for Mahomet is equally&#8230; …

    Wiktionary

  • 9sanguinary — /ˈsæŋgwənəri/ (say sanggwuhnuhree) adjective 1. attended with or characterised by bloodshed; bloody: a sanguinary struggle. 2. bloodthirsty: a sanguinary person. 3. inflicting the death penalty freely. {Latin sanguinārius} –sanguinarily, adverb&#8230; …

  • 10sanguinary — sanguine, sanguinary Both words are derived from the Latin word sanguis (stem sanguin ) meaning ‘blood’. Sanguine originally meant ‘blood coloured’ but now primarily means ‘optimistic, confident’ from an earlier association of blood (one of the&#8230; …

    Modern English usage