Holocaust
HOLOCAUST (Gr. oKoKavarov, or okoKavrov, wholly burnt), strictly a sacrifice wholly destroyed by fire, such as the sacrifices of the Jews, described in the Pentateuch as " whole burnt offerings " (see SACRIFICE). The term is now often applied to a catastrophe on a large scale, whether by fire or not, or to a massacre or slaughter.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
