different between desolation vs havoc

English

Etymology

From Old French desolacion, from Latin d?s?l?ti?.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?s??le???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

desolation (countable and uncountable, plural desolations)

1. The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.
2. The state of being desolated or laid waste

   Synonyms: ruin, solitariness, destitution, gloom, gloominess

   • I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

3. A place or country wasted and forsaken.

Translations

Middle French

Etymology

Latin d?s?l?ti?.

Noun

desolation f (plural desolations)

1. desolation; destruction; annihilation.

English

Alternative forms

• havock (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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hæv.?k/

Noun

havoc (usually uncountable, plural havocs)

1. widespread devastation, destruction

   • Ye gods, what havoc does ambition make / Among your works!
2. mayhem

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

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

Translations

Verb

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

1. To pillage.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, 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

Interjection

havoc

1. A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.

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

References