Meaning of "guillotine" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD GUILLOTINE

From French, named after Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), French physician, who advocated its use in 1789.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF GUILLOTINE

guillotine  [ˈɡɪləˌtiːn]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF GUILLOTINE

Guillotine is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb guillotine in English.

WHAT DOES GUILLOTINE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Guillotine

A guillotine is an apparatus designed for carrying out executions by beheading. It consists of a tall upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade is raised to the top and suspended. The condemned person is secured at the bottom of the frame, with his or her neck held directly below the blade. The blade is then released, to fall swiftly and sever the head from the body. The device is best known for its use in France, in particular during the French Revolution, when it "became a part of popular culture" and it became celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents." The guillotine continued to be used long after the Revolution and remained France's standard method of judicial execution until the abolition of capital punishment with the backing of President François Mitterrand in 1981. The last person guillotined in France was Hamida Djandoubi, on 10 September 1977. The guillotine has also been employed in other countries. In Nazi Germany, it saw 16,500 victims. It was used as well by the Stasi in East Germany for secret executions.

Definition of guillotine in the English dictionary

The first definition of guillotine in the dictionary is a device for beheading persons, consisting of a weighted blade set between two upright posts. Other definition of guillotine is a device for cutting or trimming sheet material, such as paper or sheet metal, consisting of a blade inclined at a small angle that descends onto the sheet. Guillotine is also a surgical instrument for removing tonsils, growths in the throat, etc.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO GUILLOTINE

PRESENT

Present

I guillotine

you guillotine

he/she/it guillotines

we guillotine

you guillotine

they guillotine

Present continuous

I am guillotining

you are guillotining

he/she/it is guillotining

we are guillotining

you are guillotining

they are guillotining

Present perfect

I have guillotined

you have guillotined

he/she/it has guillotined

we have guillotined

you have guillotined

they have guillotined

Present perfect continuous

I have been guillotining

you have been guillotining

he/she/it has been guillotining

we have been guillotining

you have been guillotining

they have been guillotining

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I guillotined

you guillotined

he/she/it guillotined

we guillotined

you guillotined

they guillotined

Past continuous

I was guillotining

you were guillotining

he/she/it was guillotining

we were guillotining

you were guillotining

they were guillotining

Past perfect

I had guillotined

you had guillotined

he/she/it had guillotined

we had guillotined

you had guillotined

they had guillotined

Past perfect continuous

I had been guillotining

you had been guillotining

he/she/it had been guillotining

we had been guillotining

you had been guillotining

they had been guillotining

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will guillotine

you will guillotine

he/she/it will guillotine

we will guillotine

you will guillotine

they will guillotine

Future continuous

I will be guillotining

you will be guillotining

he/she/it will be guillotining

we will be guillotining

you will be guillotining

they will be guillotining

Future perfect

I will have guillotined

you will have guillotined

he/she/it will have guillotined

we will have guillotined

you will have guillotined

they will have guillotined

Future perfect continuous

I will have been guillotining

you will have been guillotining

he/she/it will have been guillotining

we will have been guillotining

you will have been guillotining

they will have been guillotining

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would guillotine

you would guillotine

he/she/it would guillotine

we would guillotine

you would guillotine

they would guillotine

Conditional continuous

I would be guillotining

you would be guillotining

he/she/it would be guillotining

we would be guillotining

you would be guillotining

they would be guillotining

Conditional perfect

I would have guillotine

you would have guillotine

he/she/it would have guillotine

we would have guillotine

you would have guillotine

they would have guillotine

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been guillotining

you would have been guillotining

he/she/it would have been guillotining

we would have been guillotining

you would have been guillotining

they would have been guillotining

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you guillotine
we let´s guillotine
you guillotine

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to guillotine

Past participle

guillotined

Present Participle

guillotining

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

TRANSLATION OF GUILLOTINE

Find out the translation of guillotine to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of guillotine from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «guillotine» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 断头台
• Translator English - Spanish: guillotina
• English: guillotine
• Translator English - Hindi: गिलोटिन
• Translator English - Arabic: المقصلة
• Translator English - Russian: гильотина
• Translator English - Portuguese: guilhotina
• Translator English - Bengali: শিরছেদনার্থ যন্ত্রবিশেষ
• Translator English - French: guillotine
• Translator English - Malay: Guillotine
• Translator English - German: Guillotine
• Translator English - Japanese: ギロチン
• Translator English - Korean: 단두대
• Translator English - Javanese: Guillotine
• Translator English - Vietnamese: chém đầu
• Translator English - Tamil: க்வில்லடின்
• Translator English - Marathi: गिलोटिन
• Translator English - Turkish: giyotin
• Translator English - Italian: ghigliottina
• Translator English - Polish: gilotyna
• Translator English - Ukrainian: гільйотина
• Translator English - Romanian: ghilotină
• Translator English - Greek: καρμανιόλα
• Translator English - Afrikaans: guillotine
• Translator English - Swedish: giljotin
• Translator English - Norwegian: giljotin

4 QUOTES WITH «GUILLOTINE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word guillotine.

1

David Hockney

A belief is like a guillotine, just as heavy, just as light.

2

Herbert Lom

The guillotine was most effective and used until fairly recently.

3

Bas Rutten

Everybody knows a guillotine choke, and most know how to get to one. But if you can create a different way to get to that choke, then you're going to surprise people. However, that will only happen one time, because once it gets used that one time, everyone will see that and start to train for it.

4

P. G. Wodehouse

There is only one cure for gray hair. It was invented by a Frenchman. It is called the guillotine.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «GUILLOTINE»

Discover the use of guillotine in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to guillotine and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Guillotine, its legend and lore

A study of the guillotine as a cultural artifact, examining its representation in the arts, both high and low, over the course of two centuries.

Daniel Charles Gerould, 1992

Guillotine

" This is no ordinary guillotine. This guillotine is from the mid-evil times and is the only one of its kind in existence, which makes this a rare find and the fact that it’s been used at every famous execution. There's more.

Drac Von Stoller, 2012

When the Guillotine Fell: The Bloody Beginning and ...

Traces the 1971 story of France's last execution by guillotine, describing the horrific crimes for which Hamida Djandoubi was sentenced to death while tracing the guillotine's history as a tool for capital punishment. 25,000 first printing.

Jeremy Mercer, 2008

What a Way to Go: The Guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand ...

A historical guide to execution outlines methods that have been used throughout time and in various parts of the world, from the Swedish method through which the condemned were trapped in a cave with poisonous reptiles to the Spanish ...

Geoffrey Abbott, 2007

Mam'zelle Guillotine

And the whole thing was obviously the work of those abominable English, who were emissaries of the devil, for no flesh and blood human creature could have engineered so damnable a trick and then disappeared as if the earth had swallowed ...

Baroness Emmuska Orczy, 2008

Ramage and the Guillotine

In a brilliant yet daring spy scheme to protect Britain's shores, Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage is chosen to plumb the secrets of the French High Command.

Dudley Pope, 2000

The Guillotine Squad

Full of Arriaga's trademark humor and irony present in his films and novels, The Guillotine Squad takes us back to one of the most exciting times in Mexican history.

Guillermo Arriaga, 2007

The Guillotine and the Cross

The persistent myths of the French Revolution—that the destruction of the old order brought unrivaled freedom and happiness for Europe—are shattered in this rousing study of the political violence and social turmoil that struck France ...

Warren Hasty Carroll, 1991

Blade of the Guillotine

The reader journeys back in time to late-eighteenth-century France and becomes caught up in the turmoil and tragedy of the French Revolution.

Arthur Byron Cover, 1986

The Terror: The Shadow of the Guillotine: France 1792--1794

A compelling account of the French Revolution details the founding of the French Republic and the fanaticism of a powerful political clique, the Jacobin Club, that inflicted a reign of terror on their compatriots that transformed France ...

Graeme Fife, 2006

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «GUILLOTINE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term guillotine is used in the context of the following news items.

The guillotine of bureaucracy

SINCE 2005, people with special needs have been waiting for the authorities concerned to implement the royal order to distribute vehicles with ... «Saudi Gazette, Jul 15»

Bastille Day: Is the spot where the French Revolution started the …

The infamous guillotine stood in its northern corner, roughly outside what is now, by complete contrast, the decidedly refined and composed ... «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»

Report Card: Connor McGregor scores high with TKO victory over …

If Mendes has a better gas tank in that fight, does he go for the guillotine at the end of the second round that allowed McGregor to get back to ... «ESPN, Jul 15»

'Pope' spares Marie Antoinette, Tastykakes rain down once more in …

The guillotine-bound Queen of France was portrayed by local restaurant owner Terry McNally, and the show was emceed by French icon Edith ... «Newsworks.org, Jul 15»

UFC plots a return to Albuquerque

... lost his UFC 189 match against Matt Brown via a first round guillotine choke submission, the Jackson-Wink trained Sanchez suggested it was ... «Albuquerque Journal, Jul 15»

UFC Fight Night 71 complete fighter breakdowns, Frank Mir and …

After dropping Mir with punches, "Big Nog" hammered away before dropping back on a guillotine choke. However, Mir was awake enough to ... «MMAmania.com, Jul 15»

A return to grand style for Wolf Trap Opera with 'Ghosts of Versailles'

... (they are now both ghosts), and he promises to revise the final play in such a way as to change history and spare her the guillotine. Hilarity ... «Washington Post, Jul 15»

Celebrate Bastille Day And Chez Oskar's 17th Anniversary Tomorrow

... on a long strip of sand), live music, burlesque, a guillotine photo booth, and food specials — specials that will also continue all week long. «Fort Greene Focus, Jul 15»

Liz Kendall backs Harriet Harman in Labour welfare row

The guillotine should deal with the current leaders. Kendall said the cuts – which limit support through tax credits and universal credit to two ... «The Guardian, Jul 15»

Thoughts & Shots: UFC 189

The hard-as-nails Brown fought in typical fashion, walking down Means and landing big shots until he grabbed an opportunistic guillotine to ... «Sherdog.com, Jul 15»