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linciaggio

lynching

noun leen-CHAHD-joh Rare
People & Society Crime

Also means

mob killing

Usage Note

Linciaggio derives from the English eponym Lynch and refers to extrajudicial killing by a mob. The verb is linciare. In modern Italian it is also used figuratively for media or public vilification: linciaggio mediatico (media mob attack). The plural linciaggi follows the standard -gio pattern, dropping the i before -i.

Examples

"La folla si trasformò in una macchina di linciaggio."

Natural Translation

The crowd turned into a lynching machine.

Literal Translation

The crowd itself transformed into a machine of lynching.

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