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carrion

/ˈkæɹ.ɪ.ən/ noun

In Latin: cadāver, morticīnus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about carrion at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. The dead and rotting body of an animal; unfit for human food.

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English caroyne (“corpse, carrion, something disgusting”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman careine, caroigne, charogne, and Old French charoigne, Northern Old French caˈronië, caroine, caroigne (modern French charogne), probably from Vulgar Latin *carōnia, from Latin caro (“flesh”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)) + -ia (suffix forming nouns). Doublet of crone.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)