havoc

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   widespread destruction, disorder, or confusion

   The storm caused havoc throughout the coastal town.

2. 2
   noun

   serious disruption or damage, especially in the phrase wreak havoc

   A software failure played havoc with the timetable.

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Simplified etymology

Havoc is a late Middle English alteration of French havot, whose further origin is unknown but probably Germanic. It first referred to plunder, especially in the command cry havoc that released victorious soldiers to pillage, and later broadened to destructive devastation.

From Middle English havok, havyk, from Old French havok in the phrase crier havok (“cry havoc”) a signal to soldiers to seize plunder, from Old French crier (“cry out, shout”) + havot (“pillaging, looting”), of obscure origin. Probably from a derivative of Old French *haf, hef (“hook”), from Frankish *haf, *habbjā, *happjā (“pruning-hook, scythe”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”), related to Old French havee (“handful”), Old French havet (“pruning-hook”), Old High German habba, heppa (“pruning-hook, scythe”), modern German Hippe (“billhook”). If so, then also relat...

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