holocaust

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (2)  · 
Many linguists believe that the word holocaust, which is a Greek word -- holo means all and caust meaning "to burn to ashes", was originally coined to refer to a criminal incident in ancient Yemen committed by Jews who burnt alive a large group of chained and handcuffed men, women and children for their adherence to teachings the Jesus Christ (PBUH).

View all »
Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun Great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire.
  2. noun The genocide of European Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II: "Israel emerged from the Holocaust and is defined in relation to that catastrophe” (Emanuel Litvinoff).
  3. noun A massive slaughter: "an important document in the so-far sketchy annals of the Cambodian holocaust” (Rod Nordland).

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (49)

  • Louis Farrakhan has stood on the same podium with Arthur Butz (who argues in The Hoax of the Twentieth Century that the holocaust was an invention of Jews and commies) and White supremacist Tom Metzger. —  Omni: February 1994
  • The nakba should be accorded moral superiority over the 'holocaust' since it affects millions of real people whereas the holocaust is a mere chapter in human history. —  Palestine Blogs aggregator
  • "Invoking the holocaust is a ploy to delegitimise all criticism of Jews", he adds, "By conferring total blamelessness on Jews the holocaust dogma immunizes Israel and American Jewry from legitimate censure." —  WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
  • The legacy of the holocaust is a damn powerful thing. —  Original Signal - Transmitting Digg
  • After all these years of being taught that the holocaust is an unacceptable practice, it happens to be Israel, of all nations, which uses the holocaust as an acceptable means of causing harm another group. —  WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
 

Tags

holocaust hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 160 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, burnt offering, from Old French holocauste, from Latin holocaustum, from Greek holokauston, from neuter of holokaustos, burnt whole : holo-, holo- + kaustos, burnt (from kaiein, to burn).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English holocaust, from Latin holocaustum, from Greek όλο/καυστον, ὁλόκαυτον, a whole burnt-offering, neuter of ὁλόκαυστος, ὁλόκαυτος, burnt whole, from ο%36λος, whole, + καυστός, καυτός, burnt, from καίειν, burn: see caustic
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/ˈhɑləkɔst/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a month.

Recently looked up

colonel · instant · clangs · unworthiness · Jogglebury

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

pew · deadpool · sad panda · nom nom nom · woobie