[ 'hɒləkɔ:st ]
■ noun
1》 destruction or slaughter on a mass scale.
↘( the Holocaust ) the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime in World War II.
2》 historical a Jewish sacrificial offering burnt on an altar.
Origin
ME: from OFr. ~e , via late L. from Gk holokauston , from holos 'whole' + kaustos 'burnt'.