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pandemonium

[pan-duh-moh-nee-uh m]
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noun
  1. wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos.
  2. a place or scene of riotous uproar or utter chaos.
  3. (often initial capital letter) the abode of all the demons.
  4. hell.
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Origin of pandemonium

1660–70; after Pandaemonium, Milton's name in Paradise Lost for the capital of hell; see pan-, demon, -ium
Related formspan·de·mo·ni·ac, pan·de·mo·ni·a·cal [pan-duh-muh-nahy-uh-kuh l] /ˌpæn də məˈnaɪ ə kəl/, pan·de·mon·ic [pan-duh-mon-ik] /ˌpæn dəˈmɒn ɪk/, adjectivepan·de·mo·ni·an, adjective, noun

Synonyms

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1, 2. bedlam, turmoil, babel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pandemonic

Historical Examples

  • The "game" was considered ended when the shrieks of the victims were sufficiently loud to overtone the pandemonic music.

    The Hansa Towns

    Helen Zimmern

British Dictionary definitions for pandemonic

pandemonium

noun
  1. wild confusion; uproar
  2. a place of uproar and chaos
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Derived Formspandemoniac or pandemonic (ˌpændɪˈmɒnɪk), adjective

Word Origin

C17: coined by Milton to designate the capital of hell in Paradise Lost, from pan- + Greek daimōn demon
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pandemonic

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper