chaos

Everyday

1. Chaos is a state of complete confusion and disorder, where nothing is organised. tree →
2. (science, maths) Chaos is when tiny changes at the start lead to huge, hard-to-predict differences later, as in weather. tree →
3. (myth, Bible) In old stories, Chaos was the formless emptiness before the world was made. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life: the morning rush can be chaos, a messy bedroom is chaos, traffic chaos after snow. In stories, chaos breaks out when something goes wrong. In science, weather is chaotic, so forecasts get less certain the further ahead they look (the butterfly effect). In Greek myths, Chaos came first, before the gods.

Examples

• The classroom was in chaos when the fire alarm went off. tree →
• Snow caused chaos on the roads. tree →
• The puppy caused chaos in the kitchen. tree →
• After the party the house was total chaos. tree →
• The weather is hard to predict because of chaos. tree →
• In Greek myths, the world began from Chaos. tree →
• I saw handsome furniture, many books, and a chaos of newspapers. tree →

Note

Uncountable: no a chaos, no chaoses. Adjective: chaotic. Said KAY-oss; the ch sounds like k. The opposite is order.

In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: Sefer Yetzirah says God made order from tohu (waste, void) and bohu, which are named in Genesis 1:2. The ten sefirot are read as holding back this chaos so that the world has structure. In the primary lessons: In everyday life: the morning rush can be chaos, a messy bedroom is chaos, traffic chaos after snow. In stories, chaos breaks out when something goes wrong. In science, weather is chaotic, so forecasts get less certain the further ahead they look (the butterfly effect). In Greek myths, Chaos came first, before the gods.

Examples

• The Hebrew term תֹּהוּ tohu is much more similar in sense to the Greek kháos than it is to English chaos. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
• In this interpretation, they are ten elemental entities or properties which bind or restrain primordial תֹּהוּ tohu, 'chaos, void, waste(land)' [Genesis 1:2], allowing structure and order to exist in creation. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
• With 'two' God graved and iiewed out void and chaos. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

Uncountable: no a chaos, no chaoses. Adjective: chaotic. Said KAY-oss; the ch sounds like k. The opposite is order.