Chaos (Noun)
Meaning 1
A state of extreme confusion and disorder.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural processes.
Examples
- The city descended into chaos as the rioters clashed with police in the streets.
- The hurricane left a trail of chaos in its wake, with buildings destroyed and power lines down.
- The teacher struggled to restore order in the classroom, which had erupted into chaos after the fire alarm went off.
- The stock market was thrown into chaos when the major corporation filed for bankruptcy.
- The emergency room was in a state of chaos, with doctors and nurses rushing to attend to the multiple accident victims.
Synonyms
Related Words
Meaning 2
(physics) a dynamical system that is extremely sensitive to its initial conditions.
Classification
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents.
Examples
- The butterfly effect is a classic example of chaos in a dynamical system, where the flapping of a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world.
- In the study of chaos theory, the Lorenz attractor is a famous model that exhibits chaotic behavior, with small changes in initial conditions leading to drastically different outcomes.
- The unpredictability of weather patterns is a direct result of chaos in the Earth's atmospheric system, making it impossible to accurately forecast the weather more than a few days in advance.
- The double pendulum is a simple mechanical system that exhibits chaotic behavior, with its motion becoming increasingly unpredictable as the pendulums swing.
- In the context of quantum mechanics, the concept of chaos has been applied to the study of quantum systems, where the sensitivity to initial conditions can lead to complex and unpredictable behavior.
Related Words
Meaning 3
The formless and disordered state of matter before the creation of the cosmos.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural phenomena.
Examples
- The ancient Greeks believed that the primordial forces of chaos were the foundation upon which the universe was built.
- In many mythologies, chaos is described as a vast, endless void that existed before the creation of the world.
- The concept of chaos as the original state of the universe is found in the cosmologies of many ancient civilizations.
- The primordial chaos was thought to contain the seeds of all matter and energy that would eventually come to make up the cosmos.
- At the heart of the void, the swirling chaos of particles and energy condensed into the first building blocks of creation.
Meaning 4
(Greek mythology) the most ancient of gods; the personification of the infinity of space preceding creation of the universe.
Classification
Nouns denoting people.
Examples
- The primordial deity Chaos was said to have existed before the creation of the universe, a boundless and endless void from which all matter emerged.
- In Greek mythology, Chaos was the first of the gods, a state of infinite emptiness and disorder that preceded the birth of the cosmos.
- The ancient Greeks believed that Chaos was the fundamental substance of the universe, a limitless and formless expanse that gave rise to the first gods and goddesses.
- Chaos, the personification of the void, was said to have been the source of all creation, a mysterious and primordial force that shaped the universe.
- The myth of Chaos, the infinite and eternal void, was a central theme in ancient Greek cosmology, representing the unknown and the unknowable.