bedlam
/ˈbɛdləm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.69 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A hamlet in Clint cum Hamlets parish, Harrogate borough, North Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE2661).
Example Sentences
- "Some of the wards were veritable "bedlams," and discharged patients have told of abuses practiced in them of which the mere recital causes a shudder."
- "The outside of the Hyatt was bedlam. There was a group of more than a hundred injured people on the circular drive in front of the hotel."
- "A car was a rarity, and the sight of one in the distance was sometimes enough to cause bedlam during a class."
- ""We had an extraordinary February half term - I think we had 22,000 visitors in the seven days. Which actually is a bit like bedlam at times.""
- "Lets follow the old Earle, and get the bedlom To lead him where he would, his rogiſh madnes Allows it ſelfe to any thing."
- "Firſt, The Pilgrims were cloathed with ſuch kind of Raiment, as was diverſe from the Raiment of any that Traded in that fair. The people therefore of the fair made a great gazing upon them: Some ſaid they were Fools, ſome they were Bedlams, and ſome they are Outlandiſh-men."
Etymology
From Bedlam, alternative name of the English lunatic asylum, Bethlem Royal Hospital (royal hospital from 1375, mental hospital from 1403) (earlier St Mary of Bethlehem outside Bishopsgate, hospice in existence from 1329, priory established 1247), since used to mean “a place or situation of madness and chaos”. Bedlam as name of hospital attested 1450. Phonologically, corruption of Bethlem, itself a corruption of Bethlehem (the Biblical town), from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém) from Biblical Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bêṯ leḥem, literally “house of bread”). However, also compare Spanish belén (“confusion, disorder; a place characteristic of such”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Βηθλεέμ, בֵּית לֶחֶם