different between havoc vs doom

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English dome, dom, from Old English d?m (“judgement”), from Proto-Germanic *d?maz, from Proto-Indo-European *d?óh?mos. Compare West Frisian doem, Dutch doem, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish dom, Icelandic dómur. Doublet of duma. See also deem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du?m/
• Rhymes: -u?m

Noun

doom (countable and uncountable, plural dooms)

1. Destiny, especially terrible.
2. An undesirable fate; an impending severe occurrence or danger that seems inevitable.
3. A feeling of danger, impending danger, darkness or despair.
4. (countable, obsolete) A law.
5. (countable, obsolete) A judgment or decision.
6. (countable, obsolete) A sentence or penalty for illegal behaviour.
   • 1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People

     The first dooms of London provide especially the recovery of cattle belonging to the citizens.
7. Death.

   They met an untimely doom when the mineshaft caved in.
8. (sometimes capitalized) The Last Judgment; or, an artistic representation thereof.

Antonyms

• (undesirable fate): fortune

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• deem
• -dom

Translations

Verb

doom (third-person singular simple present dooms, present participle dooming, simple past and past participle doomed)

1. (transitive) To pronounce judgment or sentence on; to condemn.

   • Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.
2. To destine; to fix irrevocably the ill fate of.
3. (obsolete) To judge; to estimate or determine as a judge.
4. (obsolete) To ordain as a penalty; hence, to mulct or fine.
5. (archaic, US, New England) To assess a tax upon, by estimate or at discretion.

Translations

See also

• doomsday
• doomsaying
• damn

Anagrams

• Odom, mood

Wolof

Pronunciation

Noun

doom (definite form doom ji)

1. child, offspring
2. seed