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Holocaust vs Mayhem - What's the difference?

holocaust | mayhem |

As a proper noun holocaust

is (historical|narrowly) the systematic mass murder (genocide) of 6 million jews perpetrated by nazi germany shortly before and during world war ii.

As a noun mayhem is

a state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos.

holocaust

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A sacrifice that is completely burned to ashes.
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Mark XII:
    • And to love a mans nehbour as hymsilfe, ys a greater thynge then all holocaustes and sacrifises.
  • * 1646 , Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica , III.3:
    • in the holocaust or burnt-offering of Moses, the gall was cast away: for, as Ben Maimon instructeth, the inwards, whereto the gall adhereth, were taken out with the crop (according unto the law,) which the priest did not burn, but cast unto the east [...].
  • The annihilation or near-annihilation of a group of animals or people, whether by natural or deliberate agency.
    • nuclear holocaust
  • The state-sponsored mass murder of an ethnic group. In particular, the Holocaust (which see ).
  • An inferno or fire disaster.
    • a nuclear holocaust

    Usage notes

    * Use of the word holocaust to depict Jewish suffering under the Nazis dates back to 1942, according to the OED. By the 1970s, The Holocaust'' was often synonymous with the Jewish exterminations. This use of the term as a synonym for the Jewish exterminations has been criticised because it appears to imply that there was a voluntary religious purpose behind the Nazi actions, which was not the case from either the Nazis' perspective or the victims'. Hence, some people prefer the term ''Shoah'', which means ''destruction . * The word continues to be used in its other senses. For example, part of the action of a BBC radio drama by James Follett in 1981 takes place in “Holocaust City”, which by inference was named because the inhabitants were the only survivors of a global nuclear war. * For more information on the use of the term Holocaust'', see the entry ''Holocaust .

    Related terms

    * caustic * holo- * nuclear holocaust

    See also

    * burnt offering * ethnic cleansing * pogrom

    References

    * Lewis M. Paternoster and Ruth Frager-Stone, Three Dimensions of Vocabulary Growth, second edition (Amsco School Publications, 1998) * Oxford Dictionary: holocaust * * ----

    mayhem

    English

    Alternative forms

    * maihem

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos.
    • What if the legendary hero Robin Hood had been born into the mayhem of the 20th century ?
    In all the mayhem , some children were separated from their partners.
    She waded into the mayhem , elbowing between taller men to work her way to the front of the crowd.
    The clowns would dart into the crowd and pull another unsuspecting victim into the mayhem of the ring
  • Infliction of violent injury on a person or thing.
    • The fighting dogs created mayhem in the flower beds.
  • (legal) The maiming of a person by depriving him of the use of any of his limbs which are necessary for defense or protection.
  • (legal) The crime of damaging things or harming people on purpose.

    • Synonyms

    * (chaos) * (infliction of violent injury on a person or thing) * (legal) * See ,

    References