Götterdämmerung

English

Etymology

From German Götterdämmerung (“twilight of the gods”), especially as the title of an opera by Wagner; by erroneously translating Old Norse ragnarök (“fate of the gods”), misconstrued as ragnarökkr (“twilight of the gods”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡɒtəˈdæmərʊŋ/ (or as German, below)

Noun

Götterdämmerung (uncountable)

1. (Germanic mythology) The myth of the destruction of the gods in a final battle with the forces of evil; the apocalypse.
2. Any cataclysmic downfall or momentous, apocalyptic event, especially of a regime or an institution.
   • 2005, Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home, Simon & Schuster 2005, p. 153:

     After so much music, love, and flowers, she felt benumbed, thunder-struck by this psychedelic Götterdämmerung.

   • 2010, PuppetGov, We Stand on the Cusp of one of Humanity’s Most Dangerous Moments:

     We will not, especially in the United States, avoid our Götterdämmerung.

External links

• Götterdämmerung on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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German

Wikipedia ^de

Etymology

From Götter, plural of Gott (“god”) + Dämmerung (“haziness, nebulousness, dusk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡœtɐˌdɛməʀʊŋ/

Noun

Götterdämmerung f

1. twilight of the gods, Götterdämmerung

See also

• Götzendämmerung