pandemonium
pronunciation
How to pronounce pandemonium in British English:
UK [ˌpændəˈməʊniəm]
How to pronounce pandemonium in American English:
US [ˌpændəˈmoʊniəm]
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- Noun:
- a state of extreme confusion and disorder
Word Origin
- pandemonium
- pandemonium: [17] Pandemonium was coined by John Milton as the name for the capital of Hell in his poem Paradise lost 1667: ‘Meanwhile the winged heralds … throughout the host proclaim a solemn council forthwith to be held at Pandaemonium, the high capital of Satan and his peers’. He formed it from the prefix pan- ‘all’ and Greek daímōn ‘demon’ – hence ‘place of all the demons’. The modern colloquial use of the word for ‘uproar’ developed in the mid-19th century.=> demon
- pandemonium (n.)
- 1667, Pandæmonium, in "Paradise Lost" the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, "the high capital of Satan and all his peers," coined by John Milton (1608-1674) from Greek pan- "all" (see pan-) + Late Latin daemonium "evil spirit," from Greek daimonion "inferior divine power," from daimon "lesser god" (see demon). Transferred sense "place of uproar" is from 1779; that of "wild, lawless confusion" is from 1865. Related: Pandemoniac; pandemoniacal; pandemonian; pandemonic.
Example
- 1. They plunged straight into the pandemonium .
- 2. The financial markets of late might be seen as a place where pandemonium rules .
- 3. But after some editorial lopping it 's no wonder jenkins concludes that swine flu was greeted with " pandemonium " .
- 4. Many choose to simply pay the fine , but their flights can cause pandemonium when the planes crop up on airport radar screens .
- 5. Wake up 30 minutes earlier an extra 30 minutes in the morning is the difference between peaceful harmony and rapid-fire pandemonium .