# holocaust

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/ · frequency rank #8,434

## Definitions
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.
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.

## Etymology
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-).
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.

## Common misspellings (13)
`hholocaust`, `hloocaust`, `holcoaust`, `hollocaust`, `holoacust`, `holocasut`, `holocausst`, `holocaustt`, `holocauts`, `holoccaust`, `holocuast`, `hoolcaust`, `ohlocaust`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/holocaust