'Shoah' definitions:

Definition of 'Shoah'

From: GCIDE
  • Holocaust \Hol"o*caust\, n. [L. holocaustum, Gr. ?, neut. of ?, ?, burnt whole; "o'los whole + kaysto`s burnt, fr. kai`ein to burn (cf. Caustic): cf. F. holocauste.]
  • 1. A burnt sacrifice; an offering, the whole of which was consumed by fire, among the Jews and some pagan nations. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Sacrifice or loss of many lives, as by the burning of a theater or a ship.
  • Note: [An extended use not authorized by careful writers.] [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Specifically: The mass killing of millions of Jews by the Nazis during the period from 1933 to 1945 in Germany and German-occupied lands; usually referred to as {The Holocaust}. In Hebrew, the same event is referred to by the word Shoah. [PJC]