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Webster 1913 Edition
Holocaust
Hol′o-caust
,Noun.
[L.
holocaustum
, Gr. [GREEK], neut. of [GREEK], [GREEK], burnt whole; ὅλοσ
whole + καυστόσ
burnt, fr. καίειν
to burn (cf. Caustic
): cf. F. holocauste
.] 1.
A burnt sacrifice; an offering, the whole of which was consumed by fire, among the Jews and some pagan nations.
Milton.
2.
Sacrifice or loss of many lives, as by the burning of a theater or a ship.
[An extended use not authorized by careful writers.]
Webster 1828 Edition
Holocaust
HOL'OCAUST
,Noun.