Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: holocauste, from Greek holokaustos 'burnt whole', from holos 'whole' + kaiein 'to burn'

holocaust

 noun
     
hol‧o‧caust [countable]
1 a situation in which there is great destruction and a lot of people die:
a nuclear holocaust
2

the Holocaust

SH the killing of millions of Jews and other people by the Nazis during the Second World War
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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