n.
- widespread destruction.
- great confusion or disorder.
v.
(havocs, havocking, havocked)
archaic lay waste to.
Phrase
- play havoc with
completely disrupt.
Etymology
ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. havok, alt. of OFr. havot, of unknown origin; the word was orig. used in the phr. cry havoc ‘give an army the order havoc’, which was the signal for plundering.