catastrophe

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• catastrophë (now rare)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophē), from καταστρέφω (katastrephō, “I overturn”), from κατά (kata, “down, against”) + στρέφω (strephō, “I turn”)

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /kəˈtæs.trə.fi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

catastrophe (plural catastrophes)

1. Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
2. (insurance) A disaster beyond expectations
3. (narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot in a tragedy.
4. (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

Derived terms

• catastrophe bond
• catastrophe theory

Related terms

• anastrophe
• apostrophe
• cataclysm

Translations

any large and disastrous event of great significance

• Arabic: كارثة (ar) (kaaritha) f
• Catalan: catàstrofe (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 災難 (cmn), 灾难 (cmn) (zāinàn)

• Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
• Esperanto: katastrofo (eo)
• Finnish: katastrofi (fi)
• French: catastrophe (fr) f
• German: Katastrophe (de) f, Unglück (de) f
• Greek: καταστροφή (el) (katastrofí) f, όλεθρος (el) (ólethros) m
• Haitian Creole: katastwòf
• Hungarian: katasztrófa (hu), szerencsétlenség (hu)

• Ido: katastrofo (io)
• Irish: catastróf (ga) f
• Italian: catastrofe (it) f
• Japanese: 大災害 (ja) (だいさいがい, daisaigai)
• Portuguese: catástrofe (pt) f
• Romanian: catastrofă (ro) f, dezastru (ro) n
• Russian: катастрофа (ru) (katastrófa) f
• Spanish: catástrofe (es) f
• Swedish: katastrof (sv) c
• Turkish: felaket (tr)
• Volapük: katastrof (vo)

disaster beyond expectations

• Arabic: نكبة (ar) (nákba) f, فاجعة (ar) (faaji3a) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 災難 (cmn), 灾难 (cmn) (zāinàn)

• Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
• Finnish: katastrofi (fi)
• German: Katastrophe (de) f
• Greek: καταστροφή (el) (katastrofí) f
• Irish: catastróf (ga) f

• Italian: catastrofe (it) f
• Portuguese: catástrofe (pt) f
• Romanian: catastrofă (ro) f
• Russian: катастрофа (ru) (katastrófa) f
• Swedish: katastrof (sv) c
• Turkish: felaket (tr)
• Volapük: katastrof (vo)

Ancient Greek tragedies: the solution of the plot

• Catalan: catàstrofe (ca) f
• Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
• Finnish: katastrofi (fi)
• German: Katastrophe (de) f

• Greek: έκβαση (el) (ékvasi) f
• Italian: catastrofe (it) f
• Romanian: deznodământ (ro) n
• Spanish: catástrofe (es) f

mathematics: type of bifurcation

• Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
• Finnish: katastrofi (fi)

• Italian: catastrofe (it) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: katastrofa f, nesreća f
• Serbo-Croatian: katastrofa f, nesreća f
• Hebrew: אסון (ason) m (1)
• Hindi: आपत (āpat) f, आपद (āpad) f

• Indonesian: bencana
• Persian: آفت (āfat)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: катастрофа f, несрећа f

  Roman: katastrofa f, nesreća f

• Swedish: katastrof
• Urdu: آفت (āfat) f, آپت (āpat) f, آپد (āpad) f

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French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek, see above

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ka.tas.tʁɔf/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

catastrophe f (plural catastrophes)

1. catastrophe

Synonyms

• cata (informal)
• désastre

Verb

catastrophe

1. first-person singular present indicative of catastropher
2. third-person singular present indicative of catastropher
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of catastropher
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of catastropher
5. second-person singular imperative of catastropher