What does "holocaust" mean?
An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
Holocaust
/ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
- Grammar: holocaust is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: annihilation, blaze, bloodbath, blue ruin.
- Useful contrasts: creation, preservation.
- Usage evidence: The truth of the holocaust is doubtless.
How to use "holocaust"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
"And the ſcribe ſayde vnto hym: well maſter⸝ thou haſt ſayde the trugthe⸝ thatt there ys one God⸝ and that there is none but he. And to love hym with all the herte⸝ and with all the mynde⸝ and with all the ſoule⸝ ãd with all the ſtrẽgthe. And to love a mans nehbour as hym ſilfe⸝ ys a greater thynge then all holocauſtꝭ [holocaustes] and ſacrifiſes."
- 2 an act of mass destruction and loss of life (especially in war or by fire) wordnet
- 3 A complete or large offering or sacrifice. also, broadly, figuratively
"Inſnar'd ſhe was in Shechems Treachery, / And, ſilly Mayden, ſuddenly became / An Holocauſt to Luſts unhappy Flame."
- 4 Complete destruction by fire; also, the thing so destroyed. broadly
"So vertue giv'n for loſt, / Depreſt, and overthrown, as ſeem'd, / Like that ſelf-begott'n bird [the phoenix] / In the Arabian woods emboſt, / That no ſecond knows nor third, / And lay e're while a Holocauſt, / From out her aſhie womb now teem'd, / Revives, reflouriſhes, then vigorous moſt / When moſt unactive deem'd, / And though her body die, her fame ſurvives, / A ſecular bird ages of lives."
- 5 Extensive destruction of a group of animals or (especially) people; a large-scale massacre or slaughter. broadly, figuratively
"a nuclear holocaust"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 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. alt-of, broadly, figuratively
Verb
- 1 To sacrifice (chiefly an animal) to be completely burned. also, figuratively, transitive
"Such acts muſt needs be his, who did deviſe / By crying Altars down, to ſacrifice / To private malice; where you might have ſeen / His conſcience holocauſted to his ſpleen."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of holocaust (“subject to a mass annihilation; destroy en masse”). alt-of
- 3 To destroy (something) completely, especially by fire. transitive
"The meek and candid persecutor, Cardinal [Reginald] Pole, who killed and took possession when [Thomas] Cranmer was holocausted, built the chapel, and became the voucher for the truth of the absurd legend."
- 4 To subject (a group of people) to a holocaust (mass annihilation); to destroy en masse. transitive
"Over the centuries, we [Jews] were expelled, pogromed, crusaded, inquisitioned, jihaded, and holocausted out of countries that we helped to make great."
Proper Noun
- 1 The systematic mass murder (genocide) of an estimated six million European Jews perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II. historical, uncountable, usually
"Among Soloway’s congregants injured in the attack was Barbara Steinmetz, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who has become one of the most poignant symbols of the attack."
- 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). broadly, historical, uncommon, uncountable, usually
"For quotations using this term, see Citations:Holocaust."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The truth of the holocaust is doubtless."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "holocaust"?
Common synonyms include: annihilation, blaze, bloodbath, blue ruin, breakup, burnt offering.
How do you use "holocaust" in a sentence?
The truth of the holocaust is doubtless.
How do you pronounce "holocaust"?
Pronounced /ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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-). 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.
Etymology 2
Ellipsis of Jewish holocaust.