havoc

English

Alternative forms

• havok, havock, hauocke (obsolete)

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhævək/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈhævək/, /ˈhævɪk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhævək/, /ˈhævɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

havoc (usually uncountable, plural havocs)

1. Widespread devastation and destruction.
   • 1688, John Bunyan, Good News for the Vilest of Men, or, A Help for Despairing Souls. […], London: […] George Larkin, […], →OCLC, page 59:

     I [Paul the Apostle] vvas going to Damaſcus vvith Letters from the High Prieſt to make Havock of God's People there, as I had made Havock of them in other places. Theſe bloody Letters vvas not impoſed upon me. I vvent to the High Prieſt and deſired them of him, Acts 9. 1, 2. And yet he [God] ſaved me!

   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

     Ye gods, what havoc does ambition make / Among your works!

   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The People that Time Forgot‎^[1], HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:

     But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged to have contained the relics I sought I found havoc that had been wrought there even greater than elsewhere.

2. Mayhem.

Usage notes

The noun havoc is most often used in the set phrase wreak havoc.

Derived terms

• play havoc, play merry havoc with, raise havoc, wreak havoc, cry havoc, break havoc

Translations

devastation

• Bulgarian: опустошение (bg) n (opustošenie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 浩劫 (zh) (hàojié)

• Dutch: verwoesting (nl) f
• Finnish: hävitys (fi), tuho (fi), vahinko (fi)
• French: chaos (fr) m or m pl, dévastation (fr) f, bazar (fr) m
• German: Zerstörung (de) f, Verwüstung (de) f
• Hindi: नाश (hi) (nāś)
• Irish: eirleach m, slad (ga) m
• Italian: rovina (it) f, distruzione (it) f, strage (it) f
• Maori: aneatanga
• Polish: spustoszenie
• Portuguese: destruição (pt) f, devastação (pt) f, ruína (pt) f
• Russian: опустоше́ние (ru) n (opustošénije), разруше́ние (ru) n (razrušénije)
• Spanish: destrucción (es) m, devastación (es) m, ruina (es) f

mayhem

• Bulgarian: безпорядък (bg) m (bezporjadǎk)
• Finnish: kaaos (fi), sekasorto (fi)
• French: chaos (fr) m or m pl
• German: Chaos (de) n, Durcheinander (de) n
• Maori: aneatanga
• Russian: беспоря́док (ru) m (besporjádok), ха́ос (ru) m (xáos), хао́с (ru) m (xaós)

Verb

havoc (third-person singular simple present havocs, present participle havocking, simple past and past participle havocked)

1. To pillage.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     To tear and havoc more than she can eat.

2. To cause havoc.

Usage notes

As with other verbs ending in vowel + -c, the gerund-participle is sometimes spelled havocing, and the preterite and past participle is sometimes spelled havoced; for citations using these spellings, see their respective entries. However, the spellings havocking and havocked are far more common. Compare panic, picnic.

Translations

To cause havoc

• Bulgarian: опустошавам (bg) (opustošavam)

Interjection

havoc

1. A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.
   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt / With modest warrant.

   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Cry "havoc", and let slip the dogs of war!