havoc
/ˈhævək/ noun, verb, interjection
Forms havocs havocking havocked hauocke havock havok
- noun Widespread devastation and destruction.
- noun Mayhem.
- verb To pillage.
- verb To cause havoc.
- interjection A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English havok, havyk, from Old French havok in the phrase crier havok (“cry havoc”) a signal to soldiers to seize plunder, from Old French crier (“cry out, shout”) + havot (“pillaging, looting”), of obscure origin. Probably from a derivative of Old French *haf, hef (“hook”), from Frankish *haf, *habbjā, *happjā (“pruning-hook, scythe”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”), related to Old French havee (“handful”), Old French havet (“pruning-hook”), Old High German habba, heppa (“pruning-hook, scythe”), modern German Hippe (“billhook”). If so, then also related to English heave and doublet of hatchet.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste.
- verb To devastate; to destroy; to lay waste.
- interjection A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter. Toone.
Etymology [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to hounds.]
Etymology [See Havoc, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “havoc”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details