Refine this word faster
Chaos
Definitions
- 1 In Greek mythology, the primordial state of disorder that exists before the creation of the world, or the first being or deity to exist. Greek
- 2 A planetoid and cubewano orbiting in the Kuiper belt.
- 3 In the Warhammer franchise, a demonic antagonist that sends demons, monsters, warriors, and beasts to wage war on the games' setting.
"Chaos warrior, Chaos daemon"
- 1 The unordered state of matter in classical accounts of cosmogony. uncountable, usually
- 2 Initialism of congenital high airway obstruction syndrome. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
- 3 (physics) a dynamical system that is extremely sensitive to its initial conditions wordnet
- 4 Any state of disorder; a confused or amorphous mixture or conglomeration. uncountable, usually
"to descend into chaos"
- 5 Initialism of can't have anyone over syndrome. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, slang, uncountable
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 the formless and disordered state of matter before the creation of the cosmos wordnet
- 7 A behaviour of iterative non-linear systems in which arbitrarily small variations in initial conditions become magnified over time. uncountable, usually
- 8 a state of extreme confusion and disorder wordnet
- 9 One of the two metaphysical forces of the world in some fantasy settings, as opposed to law. uncountable, usually
- 10 A vast chasm or abyss. obsolete, uncountable, usually
- 11 A given medium; a space in which something exists or lives; an environment. obsolete, rare, uncountable, usually
"What is in the centre of the earth, or is it pure element only, as Ariſtotle decrees inhabited as Paracelſus thinks with creatures, whoſe Chaos is the earth with Fairies, as the woods and waters according to him, are with Nymphes or as the ayre with ſpirits."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos, “vast chasm, void”). Doublet of gas, which was borrowed through Dutch. In Early Modern English, used in the sense of the original Greek word. In the meaning "primordial matter" from the 16th century. Figurative usage in the sense "confusion, disorder" from the 17th century. The technical sense in mathematics and science dates from the 1960s.
From Latin chaos (“chaos”), from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos).
See also for "chaos"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: chaos