A field of bloodshed; a scene of slaughter or butchery; a wretched place.
((n.) The potter's field, said to have lain south of Jerusalem,
purchased with the bribe which Judas took for betraying his Master, and
therefore called the field of blood. Fig.: A field of bloodshed.)
Origin:
Early 17th century; earliest use found in Lodowick Lloyd (fl. 1573–1607). From Hellenistic Greek Ἁκελδαμά (Acts 1:19; more usually Ἁκελδαμάχ; also Ἁχελδαμάχ) from an unattested Jewish Palestinian Aramaic phrase *ḥăqal dĕmā, lit. ‘the field of blood’ from ḥăqal, construct state of ḥaqlā field, field measure + dĕmā, emphatic form of dām blood.
