holocaust
ho·lo·caust/ˈhɑl.əˌkɔst/noun, verb
holocaust is spelled H-O-L-O-C-A-U-S-T, 3 syllables: ho·lo·caust. The wrong spelling people search most is holocost: about 290 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 27 of all searches for the word. Holocaust is a noun meaning “An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes”. The plural of holocaust is holocausts.
How many letters and syllables are in holocaust?
| Letters | 9: H-O-L-O-C-A-U-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ho·lo·caust |
| In writing | 7.8 times per million words; the 8,417th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, holocost, about 290 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell holocaust?
Holocaust is spelled H-O-L-O-C-A-U-S-T. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 26 of the searches for holocaust in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is holocaust?
Holocaust appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce holocaust?
- UK /ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/
- US /ˈhɑl.əˌkɔst/
- US /ˈhoʊ.lə-/
Holocaust has 3 syllables, split ho·lo·caust in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-holocaust.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-holocaust.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-Holocaust.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of holocaust
- holocausts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- holocausting participle, present
- holocausted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does holocaust mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
- 2
A complete or large offering or sacrifice.
- 3
Complete destruction by fire; also, the thing so destroyed.
- 4
Extensive destruction of a group of animals or (especially) people; a large-scale massacre or slaughter.
a nuclear holocaust
- 5
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.
verb
- 1
To sacrifice (chiefly an animal) to be completely burned.
- 2
To destroy (something) completely, especially by fire.
- 3
To subject (a group of people) to a holocaust (mass annihilation); to destroy en masse.
verb
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of holocaust (“to subject to a mass annihilation; to destroy en masse”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Holocaust in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | holocauste |
| German | Holokauston, Holokaustum, Ganzopfer, Vollbrandopfer , Holocaust, Auslöschung |
| Portuguese | holocausto , extermínio, genocídio |
| Spanish | holocausto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does holocaust come from?
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-). By surface analysis, holo- + -caust.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).