chaos
English Edit
Etymology Edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos, “vast chasm, void”). Doublet of gas, which was borrowed through Dutch.
In Early Modern English, used in the sense of the original Greek word. In the meaning "primordial matter" from the 16th century. Figurative usage in the sense "confusion, disorder" from the 17th century. The technical sense in mathematics and science dates from the 1960s.
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
chaos (usually uncountable, plural chaoses)
- The unordered state of matter in classical accounts of cosmogony.
- Any state of disorder; a confused or amorphous mixture or conglomeration.
- to descend into chaos
- After the earthquake, the local hospital was in chaos
- 1977, Irwin Edman, Adam, the Baby, and the Man from Mars, page 54:
- or out of these chaoses order may be made, out of this ferment a clear wine of life. There are chaoses that have gone too far for retrieval
- (mathematics) A behaviour of iterative non-linear systems in which arbitrarily small variations in initial conditions become magnified over time.
- (fantasy) One of the two metaphysical forces of the world in some fantasy settings, as opposed to law.
- (obsolete) A vast chasm or abyss.
- (obsolete, rare) A given medium; a space in which something exists or lives; an environment.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:, II.ii.3:
- What is the centre of the earth? is it pure element only, as Aristotle decrees, inhabited (as Paracelsus thinks) with creatures whose chaos is the earth: or with fairies, as the woods and waters (according to him) are with nymphs, or as the air with spirits?
Synonyms Edit
Antonyms Edit
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Related terms Edit
Translations Edit
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See also Edit
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Afrikaans Edit
Etymology Edit
From Dutch chaos, from Middle Dutch caos, from Latin chaos, from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos).
Noun Edit
chaos (uncountable)
- chaos (disorder)
- (cosmogony) primordial disorder
Czech Edit
Etymology Edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos, “vast chasm, void”).
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
chaos m inan
- chaos (state of disorder)
- Antonym: řád
- 1875, Josef Durdík, Všeobecná aesthetika.[1]:
- Ano i když pomíjíme všechny všednější odstíny smyslu, básníci velebí řád, myslíce si při tom na protivu jeho, chaos, a vědouce, že ve všem co se líbí, musí být jistý řád; a na druhé straně mají právě zas řád za průjev nesvobody [...]
Declension Edit
Related terms Edit
See also Edit
Further reading Edit
- chaos in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
- chaos in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
- chaos in Internetová jazyková příručka
- "chaos a řád" in Google Books search
Dutch Edit
Etymology Edit
From Middle Dutch caos, from Latin chaos, from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos).
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
chaos m (uncountable)
Antonyms Edit
Derived terms Edit
Descendants Edit
French Edit
Etymology Edit
Borrowed from Latin chaos, from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos).
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
chaos m (uncountable)
Further reading Edit
- “chaos”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin Edit
Etymology Edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos).
Pronunciation Edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkʰa.os/, [ˈkʰäɔs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈka.os/, [ˈkäːos]
Noun Edit
chaos n sg (genitive chaī); second declension
- Alternative letter-case form of Chaos
Declension Edit
Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type), singular only.
Case | Singular |
---|---|
Nominative | chaos |
Genitive | chaī |
Dative | chaō |
Accusative | chaos |
Ablative | chaō |
Vocative | chaos |
References Edit
- “chaos”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “chaos”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia[2]
- “chaos”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “chaos”, in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
Polish Edit
Etymology Edit
Borrowed from Latin chaos, from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos).
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
chaos m inan
Declension Edit
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Further reading Edit
Slovak Edit
Pronunciation Edit
Noun Edit
chaos m inan (genitive singular chaosu, nominative plural chaosy, genitive plural chaosov, declension pattern of dub)
Declension Edit
References Edit
- chaos in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk