Definitions for CHAOSˈkeɪ ɒs

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Random House Webster's College Dictionary

cha•osˈkeɪ ɒs(n.)

  1. a state of utter confusion.

  2. any disorderly mass.

  3. the infinity of space or formless matter supposed to have preceded the creation of the universe.

  4. Physics, Math. the nonlinear, deterministic behavior of certain systems, as the appearance of strange attractors or fractal structure in graphical representations of a system's evolution. the discipline that studies such behavior.

    Category: Physics, Math

  5. Obs. a chasm or abyss.

Origin of chaos:

1400–50; late ME < L < Gk; akin to chasm

Princeton's WordNet

  1. chaos, pandemonium, bedlam, topsy-turvydom, topsy-turvyness(noun)

    a state of extreme confusion and disorder

  2. chaos(noun)

    the formless and disordered state of matter before the creation of the cosmos

  3. Chaos(noun)

    (Greek mythology) the most ancient of gods; the personification of the infinity of space preceding creation of the universe

  4. chaos(noun)

    (physics) a dynamical system that is extremely sensitive to its initial conditions

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

  1. chaos(noun)ˈkeɪ ɒs

    confusion and disorder

    a nation in total chaos

Wiktionary

  1. chaos(Noun)

    A vast chasm or abyss.

  2. chaos(Noun)

    The unordered state of matter in classical accounts of cosmogony

  3. chaos(Noun)

    Any state of disorder, any confused or amorphous mixture or conglomeration.

  4. chaos(Noun)

    A given medium; a space in which something exists or lives; an environment.

  5. chaos(Noun)

    Behaviour of iterative non-linear systems in which arbitrarily small variations in initial conditions become magnified over time.

  6. chaos(Noun)

    One of the two metaphysical forces of the world in some fantasy settings, as opposed to law.

  7. Origin: Borrowed from χάος

Webster Dictionary

  1. Chaos(noun)

    an empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm

  2. Chaos(noun)

    the confused, unorganized condition or mass of matter before the creation of distinct and orderly forms

  3. Chaos(noun)

    any confused or disordered collection or state of things; a confused mixture; confusion; disorder

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Chaos

    a name in the ancient cosmogomy for the formless void out of which everything at first sprang into existence, or the wide-spread confusion that prevailed before it shaped itself into order under the breath of the spirit of life.


Translations for CHAOS

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

chaos(noun)

complete disorder or confusion

The place was in utter chaos after the burglary.

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