havoc

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun violent and needless disturbance

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

mayhem

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