pandemonium

See also: pandemónium and pandémonium

English

WOTD – 25 August 2007

Alternative forms

• pandaemonium
• pandæmonium

Etymology

Coined by John Milton in "Paradise Lost," Pandæmonium, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek πᾶν (pân, “all”) (equivalent to English pan-) + (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin daemonium (“evil spirit, demon”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “deity”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpændɪˈməʊnɪəm/
• IPA^(key): /ˌpændɪˈmoʊni.əm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

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• Rhymes: -əʊniəm

Noun

pandemonium (countable and uncountable, plural pandemoniums or pandemonia)

1. (archaic) A place where all demons live; Hell.
   • 1674 — John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I

     And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
     A solemn Councel forthwith to be held
     At Pandæmonium, the high Capitol
     Of Satan and his Peers.

2. Chaos; tumultuous or lawless violence.
   • 2004, Boston Globe, October 22

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

3. An outburst; loud, riotous uproar, especially of a crowd.
   • 2017 March 14, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

Synonyms

• (tumultuous or lawless violence): chaos
• (an outburst): outburst, uproar

Related terms

• pandemoniac

Translations

chaos; tumultuous or lawless violence

• Cebuano: kasibaw
• Dutch: pandemonium (nl) n, heksenketel (nl) m
• French: chaos (fr) m
• German: Chaos (de) n, Hexensabbat (de) m
• Greek: πανδαιμόνιο (el) n (pandaimónio), χαμός (el) m (chamós), της τρελής (tis trelís)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: ringlulreið f
• Portuguese: pandemônio (pt) m, caos (pt) m
• Romanian: pandemoniu (ro) n, haos (ro) n
• Urdu: شور (sh-o-r), افراتفری (af-rat-'aghr-i)

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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Tumult (de) m, Hexensabbat (de) m
• Greek: πανδαιμόνιο (el) n (pandaimónio)
• Portuguese: confusão (pt) f, balbúrdia (pt) f, tumulto (pt) m
• Romanian: haos (ro) n

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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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