pandemonium

See also: pandémonium, pandemònium, and pandemónium

English

WOTD – 25 August 2007

Alternative forms

• pandaemonium, pandæmonium

Etymology

Coined by John Milton in "Paradise Lost" as Pandæmonium, from Ancient Greek πᾶν (pân, “all”) (equivalent to English pan-) + Late Latin daemonium (“evil spirit, demon”), from Ancient Greek δαιμόνιον (daimónion, “deity”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpændɪˈməʊnɪəm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpændəˈmoʊni.əm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊniəm

Noun

pandemonium (countable and uncountable, plural pandemoniums or pandemonia)

1. A loud, wild, tumultuous protest, disorder, or chaotic situation, usually of a crowd, often violent.

   Synonyms: chaos, bedlam

   • 1908, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, Bristol: J[ames] W[illiams] Arrowsmith, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company, →OCLC, page 259:

     Whatever all this pandemonium means, I suppose the police station will help us.

   • 2004 October 22, The Boston Globe:

     Whenever you have violent pandemonium, there's the overwhelming possibility for panic and tragedy.

2. An outburst; loud, riotous uproar, especially of a crowd.

   Synonyms: outburst, uproar

   • 2017 March 14, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-05:

     Riyad Mahrez flighted the free-kick that followed to the far post and Morgan, with not much finesse but plenty of desire, bundled the ball over the line. Cue pandemonium in the stands.

Derived terms

• fandemonium
• pandamonium
• pandemoniac
• pandemoniacal
• pandemonian
• pandemonic
• pandemonious
• pandemonium architecture
• pandemonium effect

 

Descendants

• → Catalan: pandemònium, pandemoni
• → Dutch: pandemonium
• → French: pandémonium
  • → Romanian: pandemoniu
• → German: Pandämonium
• → Greek: πανδαιμόνιο (pandaimónio)
• → Italian: pandemonio
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: pandemonium
• → Polish: pandemonium
• → Portuguese: pandemónio, (Brazil) pandemônio
• → Spanish: pandemónium, pandemonio
• → Swedish: pandemonium
• → Russian: пандемониум (pandemonium)

Translations

chaos; tumultuous protest or disorder

• Bulgarian: хаос (bg) m (haos)
• Cebuano: kasibaw
• Dutch: pandemonium (nl) n, heksenketel (nl) m
• Finnish: sekasorto (fi), kaaos (fi)
• French: chaos (fr) m
• Galician: pandemonio (gl) m
• German: Tohuwabohu (de) n, Tumult (de) m, Anarchie (de) f, Hexensabbat (de) m (exalted)
• Greek: πανδαιμόνιο (el) n (pandaimónio), χαμός (el) m (chamós), της τρελής (tis trelís)
• Icelandic: ringulreið (is) f
• Polish: pandemonium (pl) n
• Portuguese: pandemônio (pt) m (Brazil), pandemónio (pt) m (Portugal), caos (pt) m
• Romanian: pandemoniu (ro) n, haos (ro) n
• Tagalog: kaguluhan
• Urdu: شور (śor), افراتفری (afrā-tafrī)

an outburst; loud, riotous uproar

• Cebuano: kasibaw
• Dutch: pandemonium (nl) n, heksenketel (nl) m
• Finnish: mekastus (fi)
• French: chaos (fr) m, charivari (fr) m, tumulte (fr) m, chahut (fr) m, tohu-bohu (fr) m
• German: Aufruhr (de) m, Gewaltausbruch (de) m, Hexensabbat (de) m (exalted)
• Greek: πανδαιμόνιο (el) n (pandaimónio)
• Portuguese: confusão (pt) f, balbúrdia (pt) f, tumulto (pt) m
• Romanian: haos (ro) n
• Tagalog: kaguluhan

See also

• Pandæmonium
• all hell breaks loose

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

pandemonium n (plural pandemoniums, diminutive pandemoniumpje n)

1. pandemonium, residence of all demons/devils, hell
2. pandemonium, a 'hellish' chaos, notably terrible noise and disorder

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

pandemonium n (definite singular pandemoniet, indefinite plural pandemonium, definite plural pandemonia)

1. (antiquity) temple for all gods and demigods
2. pandemonium (residence for all demons)

   Synonym: helvete

References

• “pandemonium” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English pandemonium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pan.dɛˈmɔ.ɲum/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɲum
• Syllabification: pan‧de‧mo‧nium

Noun

pandemonium n (indeclinable)

1. (literary) pandemonium (hell)

   Synonym: piekło

2. (literary) pandemonium (chaos; tumultuous or lawless violence)

   Synonym: koszmar

Further reading

• pandemonium in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• pandemonium in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish

Alternative forms

• pandæmonium, pandämonium (archaic)

Etymology

Ultimately derived from English Pandæmonium. First attested in 1815.

Noun

pandemonium n

1. (figuratively) A place where evil demons gather.
   • 1846, Johan Nybom, Samlade dikter III, page 32:

     Det gamla Roma var
     Nu hela kristenhetens rika prestgäll,
     Ett pandämonium som förr, der lasten,
     I påfvemantel och i munkekåpor,
     Uppvaktade — o, hvilket skändligt hån!

     The old Rome were
     Now the rich clergy of all Christendom,
     A pandemonium as of old, where vice,
     In pope's robes and in monk's hoods,
     Courted — Oh, what a shameful mockery!

   • 1839 November 17, Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, edited by Carl Santesson, P. D. A. Atterboms och B. v. Beskows brevväxling. I. 1822–1840, published 1926, pages 338–339:

     Upsala har verkligen nu blifvit ett litet artigt helvete, eller pandæmonium - Tack vare vännen Geijer, som med sitt Litteraturblad öppnade Pandoras-asken för allt detta djefleri!

     Uppsala has really now become a little polite hell, or pandæmonium - Thanks to the friend Geijer, who with his Literature magazine opened Pandora's box for all this devilry!

2. A pandemonium.
   • 2009 June 4, “Ett skepp kommer lastat med galna rockstjärnor [I spy crazy rock stars]”, in Dagens Nyheter:

     Israeliska garagerockarna Monotonix har sedan 2005 orsakat pandemonium genom att vägra spela på scen och sätta eld på sig själva och sina instrument.

     Israeli garage rockers Monotonix have been causing pandemonium since 2005 by refusing to play on stage and setting themselves and their instruments on fire.

References

• pandemonium in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)