chaos
/ˈkeɪˌɑs/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.27 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A behavior of iterative nonlinear systems in which arbitrarily small variations in initial conditions become magnified over time.
Uncountable
noun
One of the two metaphysical forces of the world in some fantasy settings, as opposed to law.
Uncountable
noun
A given medium; a space in which something exists or lives; an environment.
Obsolete; Uncountable
name
In Greek mythology, the primordial state of disorder that exists before the creation of the world, or the first being or deity to exist.
name
A planetoid and cubewano orbiting in the Kuiper belt.
Example Sentences
- "to descend into chaos"
- "After the earthquake, the local hospital was in chaos"
- "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"
- "What is in the centre of the earth, or is it pure element only, as Ariſtotle decrees inhabited as Paracelſus thinks with creatures, whoſe Chaos is the earth with Fairies, as the woods and waters according to him, are with Nymphes or as the ayre with ſpirits."
- "Chaos warrior, Chaos daemon"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂-der. Ancient Greek χαῦνος (khaûnos) Ancient Greek χάος (kháos)lbor. English chaos Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos, “vast chasm, void”). Doublet of gas, which was borrowed through Dutch. Displaced native Old English dwolma. 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.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: chaos, χάος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkeɪˌɑs/
- British English: /ˈkeɪ.ɒs/