# Mayhem Parva

> English word · Proper noun

## Definitions
1. The archetypical sleepy English village that is the setting for many works of detective fiction.

## Etymology
Coined by Colin Watson with reference to the works of Agatha Christie. Compare place names such as Glen Parva, Ashby Parva, etc.
"Parva" was derived from Latin parvus (“small, insignificant”), so the name can literally mean "little chaos".

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