Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Shoah” come from?

Shoah derives from Hebrew שׁוֹאָה, whose original meaning remains uncertain, though the term came to designate catastrophe and destruction in modern usage.

Ancestry of “Shoah”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Hebrewשׁוֹאָהholocaust, disaster; catastrophe
Every word from Hebrew שׁוֹאָה →