havoc English · revision 2441

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhævək/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|havok]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) [[bor|xno|havok]], from the phrase ''crier havok'' “to cry havoc”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) a variant of [[fro|havot|t=plundering, looting]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The Old French word is of Germanic origin,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) though Etymonline also allows a source in Latin ''habēre'' “to have”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the phrase ''cry havoc'', the order given to an army as the signal to seize plunder (1385).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Crying “havoc!” let soldiers loose to plunder and slaughter,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) and from this the noun took on the general sense “devastation, destruction” by 1480.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Phrases such as ''make havoc'' and ''play havoc with'' kept something of the older idea of spoiling.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) The verb, “to lay waste”, followed in 1577.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1385 – ''cry havoc'', the signal for pillage.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1419 – as ''havoke''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1480 – devastation, destruction.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1577 – verb, to devastate, lay waste.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1796 – verb, to make havoc.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Widespread destruction; devastation.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Great confusion and disorder.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To lay waste; to destroy or pillage.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[havocker]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The noun is most often used in the set phrase ''wreak havoc''.^(Wiktionary) The verb's inflected forms are usually spelled ''havocked'' and ''havocking''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}