havoc

• n. 大破壞；浩劫；蹂躪
• vt. 嚴(yán)重破壞
• vi. 損毀
• n. (Havoc)人名；(英)哈沃克

來(lái)自諾曼法語(yǔ)crier havok,即cry havoc,準(zhǔn)許士兵搶劫的信號(hào)，詞源不詳，可能來(lái)自拉丁語(yǔ)habere,抓，占有，詞源同habit,give(古義為擁有).

havoc

havoc: [15] The ancestry of havoc is a mystery, but it seems originally to have been an exclamation, probably Germanic, used as a signal to begin plundering. This was adopted into Old French as havot, which was used in the phrase crier havot ‘shout ‘havot’,’ hence ‘let loose destruction and plunder’. Havot became altered in Anglo-Norman to havok, the form in which English adopted it; and in due course cry havoc gave rise to the independent use of havoc as ‘destruction, devastation’.

havoc (n.)

early 15c., from the expression cry havoc "give the signal to pillage" (Anglo-French crier havok, late 14c.). Havok, the signal to soldiers to seize plunder, is from Old French havot "pillaging, looting" (in crier havot), which is related to haver "to seize, grasp," hef "hook," probably from a Germanic source (see hawk (n.)), or from Latin habere "to have, possess." General sense of "devastation" first recorded late 15c.

1. The sudden onset of winter caused havoc with rail and air transport.

冬天的突然降臨讓鐵路和航空運(yùn)輸系統(tǒng)陷入混亂。

來(lái)自柯林斯例句

2. The weather played havoc with airline schedules.

天氣打亂了航空公司的航班安排。

來(lái)自柯林斯例句

3. Stress can wreak havoc on the immune system.

壓力可能會(huì)破壞免疫系統(tǒng)。

來(lái)自柯林斯例句

4. Drug addiction soon played havoc with his career.

毒癮很快就毀掉了他的事業(yè)。

來(lái)自柯林斯例句

5. The floods caused havoc throughout the area.

洪水給整個(gè)地區(qū)帶來(lái)了災(zāi)害。

來(lái)自《權(quán)威詞典》