holocaust

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: homocaust, hypocaust, holocausts, holocost

Antonyms: homocaust, hypocaust, holocausts, holocost

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

{{lb|en|religion}} An [[offering#Noun|offering]] or [[sacrifice#Noun|sacrifice]] to a [[deity]] that is [[completely]] [[burn#Verb|burned]] to [[ash#Noun|ashes]]. {{defdate|from 13th c.}}
{{lb|en|by extension}}

{{lb|en|religion|also|figuratively}} To [[sacrifice#Verb|sacrifice]] (chiefly an [[animal]]) to be [[completely]] [[burn#Verb|burned]].
To [[destroy]] (something) completely, especially by [[fire#Noun|fire]].
To [[subject#Verb|subject]] (a [[group#Noun|group]] of [[person#Noun|people]]) to a [[holocaust#Noun|holocaust]] ([[mass#Adjective|mass]] [[annihilation]]); to [[destroy]] [[en masse]].

{{lb|en|historical|narrowly}} The [[systematic]] [[mass murder]] ([[genocide]]) of an estimated six million European [[Jew]]s [[perpetrate]]d by [[Nazi Germany]] during [[World War II]].
{{lb|en|historical|broadly|less common}} The [[systematic]] [[mass murder]] ([[democide]]) perpetrated by [[Nazi Germany]] of somewhere between eleven and fourteen million people they considered [[subhuman]], namely six million [[Jew]]s and from five to eight million others (including [[Romani]]s, [[Slav]]s, [[homosexual]]s, and people with physical and mental disabilities).

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.