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Mayhem Has Legal Roots
Legally speaking, mayhem refers to the gruesome crime of deliberately causing an injury that permanently disfigures another. The word comes via Middle English from the Anglo-French verb maheimer ("to maim") and is probably of Germanic origin; the English verb maim comes from the same ancestor. The "disfigurement" sense of mayhem first appeared in English in the 15th century. Centuries later, the word came to refer to any kind of violent behavior. Nowadays, mayhem is frequently used to suggest any kind of chaos or disorder, even in far less fraught circumstances, as in "there was mayhem on the field after the winning goal was scored."
Examples of mayhem in a Sentence
Marci Robin, Allure, 24 Apr. 2026 The murder and mayhem convictions against five Hells Angels members may be in jeopardy, for reasons that a federal judge has thus far kept a secret from the public. —Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026 Today, oil and shipping reporter Weilun Soon says the mayhem in the Persian Gulf doesn’t bode well for both ending the war and restraining crude prices. —Weilun Soon, Bloomberg, 20 Apr. 2026 Fritznel Jean, 28, a resident of Boston, faces a count of causing mayhem and three counts of assault and battery on a police officer — one causing serious bodily injury — for the melee that took place at Transit Police headquarters the morning of April 10. —Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 17 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mayhem
Cite this Entry
“Mayhem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/mayhem. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
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Medical Definition
California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
Legal Definition
mayhem
noun
Note: Under the Model Penal Code and the codes of the states that follow it, mayhem is encompassed by assault and aggravated assault.
Anglo-French mahaim, mahain, literally, mutilation, from Old French mahain, from mahaignier to injure, mutilate
