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bedlam

noun
/ˈbɛdləm/

Etymology

From Bedlam, alternative name of the English lunatic asylum, Bethlem Royal Hospital (royal hospital from 1375, mental hospital from 1403) (earlier St Mary of Bethlehem outside Bishopsgate, hospice in existence from 1329, priory established 1247), since used to mean “a place or situation of madness and chaos”. Bedlam as name of hospital attested 1450. Phonologically, corruption of Bethlem, itself a corruption of Bethlehem (the Biblical town), from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém) from Biblical Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bêṯ leḥem, literally “house of bread”). However, also compare Spanish belén (“confusion, disorder; a place characteristic of such”).

  1. derived from בֵּית לֶחֶם
  2. derived from Βηθλεέμ

Definitions

  1. A place or situation of chaotic uproar, and where confusion prevails.

    • Some of the wards were veritable "bedlams," and discharged patients have told of abuses practiced in them of which the mere recital causes a shudder.
    • The outside of the Hyatt was bedlam. There was a group of more than a hundred injured people on the circular drive in front of the hotel.
    • A car was a rarity, and the sight of one in the distance was sometimes enough to cause bedlam during a class.

  2. An insane person

    An insane person; a lunatic; a madman.

    • Lets follow the old Earle, and get the bedlom To lead him where he would, his rogiſh madnes Allows it ſelfe to any thing.

  3. A lunatic asylum

    A lunatic asylum; a madhouse.

    • Shut up the world at large, let Bedlam out; And you will be perhaps surprised to find All things pursue exactly the same route, As now with those of soi-disant sound mind.
    • “There ’s another fellow,” muttered Scrooge; who overheard him: “my clerk, with fifteen shillings a-week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas. I ’ll retire to Bedlam.”
  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. A hamlet in Clint cum Hamlets parish, Harrogate borough, North Yorkshire, England (OS…

      A hamlet in Clint cum Hamlets parish, Harrogate borough, North Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE2661).

    2. A hamlet in Bitterley parish, south Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SO5877).

    3. A hamlet in Great Elm parish, Mendip district, Somerset, England (OS grid ref ST7549).

    4. Bethlem Royal Hospital, a famous psychiatric hospital, now located in Bromley, South…

      Bethlem Royal Hospital, a famous psychiatric hospital, now located in Bromley, South London.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bedlam. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA