English Explanatory Dictionary

holocaust

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
  2. A complete or large offering or sacrifice.
  3. Complete destruction by fire; also, the thing so destroyed.
  4. Extensive destruction of a group of animals or (especially) people; a large-scale massacre or slaughter.
  5. Alternative letter-case form of Holocaust (“the systematic mass murder (democide or genocide) of Jews (and, more broadly, of disabled people, homosexuals, Romanis, Slavs, and others) perpetrated by Nazi Germany shortly before and during World War II”); hence, the state-sponsored mass murder of a particular group of people in society.
verb
  1. To sacrifice (chiefly an animal) to be completely burned.
  2. To destroy (something) completely, especially by fire.
  3. To subject (a group of people) to a holocaust (mass annihilation); to destroy en masse.
name
  1. The systematic mass murder (genocide) of an estimated six million European Jews perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II.
  2. The systematic mass murder (democide) perpetrated by Nazi Germany of somewhere between eleven and fourteen million people they considered subhuman, namely six million Jews and from five to eight million others (including Romanis, Slavs, homosexuals, and people with physical and mental disabilities).
verb
  1. Alternative letter-case form of holocaust (“subject to a mass annihilation; destroy en masse”).

Pronunciation

/ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-holocaust.wav /ˈhɑl.əˌkɔst/ /ˈhoʊ.lə-/ /ˈhɑl.əˌkɑst/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-holocaust.wav /ˈhɒləkɔːst/ /ˈhɑləkɔst/ /ˈhɑləkɑst/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Holocaust.wav

Word forms

holocaust holocausts holocausting holocausted the Holocaust

Etymology

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 derived from the noun. As regards verb sense 3 (“to subject (a group of people) to a holocaust”), compare the use of genocide as a verb.

Synonyms

hecatomb Shoah the Nazi genocide

Related words

caustic holo- ethnic cleansing pogrom Nazi persecution of Romanis Catholics Jehovah's Witnesses blacks Poles Soviet prisoners-of-war and homosexuals concentration camp final solution Meds Yeghern

Derived words

holocash holocaustal holocaustic Lolocaust Oxygenation Holocaust oxygen holocaust postholocaust Hoaxocaust Holocaustianity Holohoax Holycaust

Translations

Afrikaans: Sjoa Afrikaans: Volkslagting Afrikaans: Uitwissing Afrikaans: Jodeslagting Afrikaans: Joodse Volksmoord Afrikaans: Holocaust Arabic: الْهُولُوكُوسْت Arabic: الْمَحْرَقَة الْيَهُودِيَّة Aragonese: Holocausto Armenian: Հոլոքոստ Asturian: Holocaustu Azerbaijani: Holokost Azerbaijani: Yəhudi soyqırımı Belarusian: Халако́ст Bulgarian: Холокост Catalan: Holocaust Chinese Mandarin: 猶太人大屠殺 /犹太人大屠杀 Chinese Mandarin: 大屠殺 /大屠杀 Czech: holokaust Czech: holocaust Czech: šoa Danish: Holocaust Danish: jødeudryddelse Dutch: Holocaust Dutch: Sjoa Dutch: jodenvervolging Esperanto: Holokaŭsto Esperanto: Ŝoaho Finnish: juutalaisvaino Finnish: holokausti French: Shoah Galician: Holocausto Georgian: ჰოლოკოსტი German: Holocaust German: Judenmord German: Judenvernichtung German: Massenmord an den europäischen Juden German: Schoah German: Auschwitz German: Endlösung Greek: Ολοκαύτωμα Hebrew: השואה Hebrew: שואה Hindi: यहूदी नरसंहार Hungarian: holokauszt Hungarian: soa Hungarian: vészkorszak Icelandic: Helförin Indonesian: Holokaus Indonesian: Shoah Irish: an tUileloscadh Italian: Olocausto Italian: Shoah Japanese: ホロコースト Japanese: ユダヤ人大虐殺 Ladino: Olokosto Ladino: Shoa Latin: Soa Latvian: Holokausts Latvian: Šoā Lithuanian: Holokaustas Lithuanian: Šoa Norwegian: Holocaust Polish: Holocaust Polish: Holokaust Portuguese: Holocausto Portuguese: Shoá Romanian: Holocaust Russian: холоко́ст Russian: Шоа́ Spanish: Holocausto Swedish: Förintelsen Swedish: Shoah Tok Pisin: Bikpela Bagarap Tok Pisin: Holokos
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