Named after Dr. Guillotin, who advocated humane execution — he neither invented nor built it, and his family later changed their name.
Definition
A device consisting of a heavy blade sliding vertically in grooves, used for beheading people, notably during the French Revolution.
The Full Story
French (personal name)1793well-attested
Named after Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), a French physician and politician who proposed in 1789 that executions should be carried out by a swift, painless machine rather than by the botched hangings, sword strokes, and wheel-breakings then common. Guillotin did not invent or build the device — the actual design was created by surgeon Antoine Louis (initially called the 'Louisette' or 'Louison') and constructed by German harpsichordmaker Tobias Schmidt — but Guillotin's name became permanently and ironically attached to it because of his public advocacy. The surname 'Guillotin' derives from the French
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Dr. Guillotin was horrified that theexecution device bore his name. His family petitioned the Frenchgovernment to rename it after his death, and when that failed, they changed their own surname instead.
it — but the guillotine became the symbol of revolutionary justice. The word entered English almost immediately during the Terror of 1793–94 and quickly became both noun and verb. Key roots: Guillotin (French: "surname, diminutive of 'Guillaume' (William)").