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) 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.

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. 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