mayhem

may·hem

Use mayhem in a sentence

noun

Mayhem is defined as violence, damage or chaos, or the crime of crippling or mutilating a victim.

An example of mayhem is a mosh pit that gets out of control at a rock concert.
An example of mayhem is a person causing a victim to not be able to walk.

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"mayhem." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 10 August 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Mayhem>.

APA Style

mayhem. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Mayhem

mayhem

Historical, Law the crime of maiming a person, esp. in order to make the person incapable of self-defense
destructive or violent disorder

Origin of mayhem

see maim

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MLA Style

"mayhem." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 10 August 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Mayhem>.

APA Style

mayhem. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Mayhem

mayhem

noun

Law The criminal offense of willfully maiming, disabling, or disfiguring a person.
Infliction of violent injury on a person or thing; wanton destruction: children committing mayhem in the flower beds.
A state of violent disorder or riotous confusion; havoc.

Origin of mayhem

Middle English maim, mayhem from Anglo-Norman maihem from Old French mahaigne injury from mahaignier to maim from Vulgar Latin mahanāre probably of Germanic origin

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"mayhem." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 10 August 2018. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/Mayhem>.

APA Style

mayhem. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10th, 2018, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/Mayhem

Noun

(usually uncountable, plural mayhems)

A state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos.
What if the legendary hero Robin Hood had been born into the mayhem of the 20th century ?
In all the mayhem, some children were separated from their partners.
She waded into the mayhem, elbowing between taller men to work her way to the front of the crowd.
The clowns would dart into the crowd and pull another unsuspecting victim into the mayhem of the ring
Infliction of violent injury on a person or thing.
The fighting dogs created mayhem in the flower beds.
(law) The maiming of a person by depriving him of the use of any of his limbs which are necessary for defense or protection.
(law) The crime of damaging things or harming people on purpose.

Origin

Middle English mayme, mahaime, from Anglo-Norman mahaim (“mutilation"), from Old French mahaign (“bodily harm, loss of limb"), from Germanic, from Proto-Germanic *maidijanÄ… (“to cripple, injure") (compare Middle High German meidem, meiden 'gelding', Old Norse meiÃ°a 'to injure', Gothic ðŒ¼ðŒ°ðŒ¹ðŒ³ðŒ¾ðŒ°ðŒ½ maidjan 'to alter, falsify'), from Proto-Indo-European *mei (“to change"). More at mad. The original meaning referred to the crime of maiming, the other senses derived from this.