pandemonium English · revision 1949

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌpæn.dɪˈməʊ.ni.əm/ ''(UK)''; /ˌpæn.dəˈmoʊ.ni.əm/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was coined by John Milton in ''Paradise Lost'' (1667) as ''Pandæmonium'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) from [[grc|πᾶν|tr=pân|t=all]]^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) and [[la-lat|daemonium|t=evil spirit]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[grc|δαιμόνιον|tr=daimónion]], from ''daímōn'' “lesser god”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[demon]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The palace built in the middle of Hell, “the high capital of Satan and all his peers”, and the home of all the demons (1667).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Milton's name for the capital of Hell was soon applied to any place resembling it,^(OED 1989) such as a haunt of wickedness.^(OED 1989) From 1779 it meant a place of wild uproar and disorder,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and from 1865 wild, lawless confusion itself.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Only the last sense is now common, and it is usually written without a capital.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1667 – ''Pandæmonium'', Milton's capital of Hell.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1779 – a place of wild uproar.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1807–8 – a gambling hell.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1865 – wild confusion or uproar.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Wild uproar, noise or disorder; chaos.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A very noisy or chaotic place.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' The capital of Hell in ''Paradise Lost'', or Hell itself.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pandemoniac]]

+ * [[pandemonian]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[demon]]

+ * [[daemon]]

+ * [[bedlam]]

+ * [[chaos]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}