mayhem.
The criminal offence of maiming (“seriously wounding”) a person such that their ability to defend or protect themselves is weakened or completely removed; (countable) an instance of this.
Meaning & usage
The criminal offence of maiming (“seriously wounding”) a person such that their ability to defend or protect themselves is weakened or completely removed; (countable) an instance of this.
to commit mayhem
The criminal offence of maiming a person by depriving them of the use of any of their limbs.
Often preceded by to cause or make: great confusion, destruction, disorder, or trouble; chaos, turmoil; (countable) an instance of this.
In all the mayhem, some children were separated from their parents.
What if the legendary hero Robin Hood had been born into the mayhem of the 20th century?
Violent conduct, especially the violent infliction of injury on a person or thing.
The fighting dogs created mayhem in the flower beds.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from Late Middle English mayehem, maihem, a late form of maym, maim (“disfigurement, injury, mutilation; disfigured person”) (whence modern English maim (noun)), from Anglo-Norman mahaim, mahainne (“mutilation”), and Old French mehaing, meshaing (“bodily harm, loss of limb”). The verb is partly: * from Late Middle English mahaym, maheyme, a late form of maimen, maymen (“to injure seriously, mutilate, maim; to damage; to destroy; to afflict with disease; to dispossess”) (whence modern English maim (verb)), from Anglo-Norman mahaigner, mahimer, Middle French mehaignier, and Old French mehaingner, meshaignier (“to destroy; to harm; to injure, maim”); and * from the modern English noun. The etymology of the Old French words is uncertain; they are possibly from Proto-Germanic *maidijaną (“to damage; to hurt; to change; to exchange”) (compare Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (maidjan, “to alter, falsify”); Middle High German meidem, meiden (“gelding”); Old Norse meiða (“to injure”)), from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to change; to exchange; etc.”), possibly from *mey- (“to change; to exchange”). If so, the English word is a doublet of mad.
To commit the criminal offence of mayhem (noun sense 1) on (someone); to maim.
To violently inflict injury on (someone); to injure, to wound.
Where this word comes from
The noun is derived from Late Middle English mayehem, maihem, a late form of maym, maim (“disfigurement, injury, mutilation; disfigured person”) (whence modern English maim (noun)), from Anglo-Norman mahaim, mahainne (“mutilation”), and Old French mehaing, meshaing (“bodily harm, loss of limb”). The verb is partly: * from Late Middle English mahaym, maheyme, a late form of maimen, maymen (“to injure seriously, mutilate, maim; to damage; to destroy; to afflict with disease; to dispossess”) (whence modern English maim (verb)), from Anglo-Norman mahaigner, mahimer, Middle French mehaignier, and Old French mehaingner, meshaignier (“to destroy; to harm; to injure, maim”); and * from the modern English noun. The etymology of the Old French words is uncertain; they are possibly from Proto-Germanic *maidijaną (“to damage; to hurt; to change; to exchange”) (compare Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (maidjan, “to alter, falsify”); Middle High German meidem, meiden (“gelding”); Old Norse meiða (“to injure”)), from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to change; to exchange; etc.”), possibly from *mey- (“to change; to exchange”). If so, the English word is a doublet of mad.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.