tohu-bohu
See also: tohubohu
English
Etymology
From Biblical Hebrew תוהו ובוהו, from תֹהוּ (tóhu, “nothingness, void”) + בֹּהוּ (bóhu, “emptiness, desolation”).
Noun
- Chaos, disorder, confusion.
- 1875, William Gladstone, Gleanings of Past Years, VI:
- Yet a judge may […] be required to dive, at a moment's notice, into the tohu-bohu of inquiries, which have never yet emerged from the stage of chaos.
- 1940, W. H. Auden, "In Sickness and in Health":
- […] / The decorative manias we obey / Die in grimaces round us every day, / Yet through their tohu-bohu comes a voice / Which utters an absurd command — Rejoice.
- 1875, William Gladstone, Gleanings of Past Years, VI:
Alternative forms
Translations
formless chaos; void
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French
Etymology
From Biblical Hebrew תוהו ובוהו, from תֹהוּ (tóhu, “nothingness, void”) + בֹּהוּ (bóhu, “emptiness, desolation”).
Pronunciation
Noun
tohu-bohu m (plural tohu-bohus)
Quotations
- 1871, Arthur Rimbaud, "Le Bateau Ivre" in Poésies
- Dans les clapotements furieux des marées, ¶ Moi, l’autre hiver, plus sourd que les cerveaux d’enfants, ¶ Je courus ! Et les Péninsules démarrées ¶ N’ont pas subi tohu-bohus plus triomphants.
Further reading
- “tohu-bohu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Biblical Hebrew
- English terms derived from Biblical Hebrew
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English multiword terms
- French terms borrowed from Biblical Hebrew
- French terms derived from Biblical Hebrew
- French 4-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:French/y
- French terms with homophones
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French multiword terms
- French masculine nouns