holocaust

Meanings

Noun

• An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.

Verb

• To sacrifice (chiefly an animal) to be completely burned.
• To destroy (something) completely, especially by fire.
• To subject (a group of people) to a holocaust (mass annihilation); to destroy en masse.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• animal holocaust
• homocaust
• nuclear holocaust

Origin

• The noun is derived from Middle English holocaust, from Anglo-Norman holocauste, Old French holocauste, olocauste (modern French holocaust), from Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek ὁλόκαυστον, the neuter form of ὁλόκαυστος, from ὅλος (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-) + καυστός (from καίω; 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.