holocaust

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A huge act of destruction and loss of life, especially by war or fire.

   The film imagines life after a nuclear holocaust.

2. 2
   noun

   A large-scale killing of a group of people; a massacre.

   The museum documents the holocaust suffered by millions during the war.

The noun is derived from Middle English holocaust (“burnt offering”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman holocauste, Old French holocauste, olocauste (modern French holocaust), from Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston), the neuter form of ὁλόκαυστος (holókaustos, “wholly burnt”), from ὅλος (hólos, “entire, whole”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”)) + καυστός (kaustós, “burnt”) (from καίω (kaíō, “to burn, burn up”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂w-). By surface analysis, holo- + -caust. The verb is derive…

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