乱麻

Etymology 1
Possibly a. Alternatively, may be a shift from kun'yomi to on'yomi for the term, attested in the  and now archaic.

First cited to 1859.

Noun

 * 1)   a tangled cord or string
 * 2)   a muddle, a jumble, chaos, a disordered state

Etymology 2
Alternative spelling that omits the okurigana, generally only found in older texts.