Holocaust (accidentally omitted 12/3/2019)

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Holocaust (accidentally omitted 12/3/2019)

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Jan 18, 2021 4:42 pm

• holocaust •


Pronunciation: ho-lê-kawst • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. Massive destruction, especially by fire. 2. (The Holocaust) The genocide of Jews, socialists, Gypsies, homosexuals, and the mentally retarded ordered by Hitler in WWII to "cleanse" Europe of these people. 3. A sacrifice that is completely consumed by fire, a wholly burnt sacrifice.

Notes: Here is a huge word that has come a long way since the Greeks created it. It comes with two adjectives: holocaustal and holocaustic. For more on holocaust, go here.

In Play: This is far from a playful word, so it is often associated with nuclear war: "In the 1960s fear of a nuclear holocaust drove thousands of Americans to build bomb shelters in their backyards." When referring to the genocide of WWII this word is usually capitalized: "The Diary of Anne Frank describes the daily life of a young Dutch girl before she perished in the Holocaust."

Word History: Today's Good Word was borrowed from Old French holocauste, inherited from Late Latin holocaustum, borrowed from Greek holokauston "something wholly burnt". This noun is just the noun usage of the neuter of holokaustos "burned whole", comprising holos "whole" + kaustos, the past participle of kaiein "to burn", also the source of caustic. Holos came to Greek from PIE solê- "whole, well-kept". In Greek PIE [s] was replace by [h] before certain vowels. It is not in Latin, where solê- became salvus "safe" and salvare "to save", the ultimate origin of English save, salvation and salvage. Latin also kept the original root for its solus "only, single, sole", which English borrowed, via French, as sole. We can also see it in solitaire, a more obvious French creation. (We now thank William Hupy, our prolific long-time friend, for suggesting today's heavily endowed Good Word.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8039
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Holocaust (accidentally omitted 12/3/2019)

Postby Slava » Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:35 am

Unless being used for mass destruction by fire, as in the current forest fires in the US, or volcanic eruptions, I'd say this one should be assiduously avoided. Using the Holocaust in political comparisons is inevitably wrong.


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 40 guests