holocaust
(noun) an act of mass destruction and loss of life (especially in war or by fire); “a nuclear holocaust”
Holocaust, final solution
(noun) the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime from 1941 until 1945
Source: WordNet® 3.1
the Holocaust (usually uncountable, plural Holocausts)
(historical, narrowly) The systematic mass murder (genocide) of 6 million Jews perpetrated by Nazi Germany shortly before and during World War II.
(historical, broadly) The systematic mass murder (democide) of 11 million people, namely 6 million Jews and 5 million others (including Romanis, Slavs, homosexuals, and people with physical and mental disabilities), perpetrated by Nazi Germany shortly before and during World War II.
• Whether the term "Holocaust" is a designation for the mass murder of 11 million people or the genocide of 6 million Jews is contested.
• The genocide of the European Jews may be unambiguously referred to as the Shoah. The genocide of the Romani people has the specific designation Porajmos.
• (mass murder of 6 million Jews): Shoah
• the Nazi genocide
• (mass murder of 6 million Jews): holocaust, genocide, mass murder
• (mass murder of 11 million people): holocaust, democide, mass murder
• (mass murder of 11 million people): Shoah (mass murder of Jews)
• (mass murder of 11 million people): Homocaust
• (mass murder of 11 million people): Porajmos (the genocide of the Roma)
Holocaust (third-person singular simple present Holocausts, present participle Holocausting, simple past and past participle Holocausted)
Alternative letter-case form of holocaust (“subject to a mass annihilation; destroy en masse”).
holocaust (plural holocausts)
A sacrifice that is completely burned to ashes. [from the 13th c]
Extensive destruction of a group (usually of people or animals), whether by deliberate agency or by natural agency (especially fire). [from the 19th c]
In particular, a state-sponsored mass murder of an ethnic group, especially the Holocaust (which see). [from the 20th c]
• 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.
• homocaust
• nuclear holocaust
holocaust (third-person singular simple present holocausts, present participle holocausting, simple past and past participle holocausted)
(rare) To sacrifice and burn (an animal) completely.
(rare) To destroy completely, especially by fire.
(rare, possibly, nonstandard) To subject to a holocaust (mass annihilation); to destroy en masse. (Compare genocide.)
Source: Wiktionary
Hol"o*caust, n. Etym: [L. holocaustum, Gr. "o'los whole + kaysto`s burnt, fr. kai`ein to burn (cf. Caustic): cf. F. holocauste.]
1. A burnt sacrifice; an offering, the whole of which was consumed by fire, among the Jews and some pagan nations. Milton.
2. Sacrifice or loss of many lives, as by the burning of a theater or a ship.
Note: [An extended use not authorized by careful writers.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
12 November 2024
(noun) any of numerous plants of the genus Plantago; mostly small roadside or dooryard weeds with elliptic leaves and small spikes of very small flowers; seeds of some used medicinally
International Coffee Day (September 29) is an occasion to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events occurring in places across the world. A day to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the coffee growers’ plight. Other countries celebrate this event on October 1.
