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The term holocaust means a loss of many lives, especially by fire. Unmodified, it almost always refers to the Holocaust of Jews and other minorities during World War 2 (the terms Jewish Holocaust and Gypsy Holocaust can also be used more specifically, though both "holocausts" occurred at the same time and place). However, other groups have used the term to describe historical events.

• The term Black Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the deaths of numerous Africans on slave ships bound for the New World
• The term Palestinian Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the treatment of Palestinians during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• The term Armenian Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the Armenian Genocide in the early 20th century
• The term Ukrainian Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the deaths of millions of Ukrainians during the period of Soviet collectivization
• The term Irish Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the deaths of numerous Irish people during the Great Irish Famine
• The term Chinese Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the deaths of Chinese people during the Japanese occupation of China in World War 2, especially the Rape of Nanking
• The term Native American is sometimes used to describe the treatment of Native Americans, particularly in the form of massacres. The terms Canadian Holocaust and Aboriginal Holocaust, though rarer terms, are occasionally used to describe the comparable treatment of indiginous people in Canada and Australia.

The usage of most of these terms is highly controversial, and can be considered offensive.

The term is also used to denote non-historic events like a possible nuclear holocaust - the deaths in a global nuclear war an the ensuing nuclear winter. Furthermore, activist groups sometimes compare their causes to holocausts -- an environmentalist, for example, may speak of a "holocaust of old-growth forests" and an anti-abortion activist may speak of a "holocaust of infants".

• Disambiguation pages