catastrophe

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English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, I overturn), from κατά (katá, down, against) + στρέφω (stréphō, I turn).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

catastrophe (countable and uncountable, plural catastrophes)

  1. Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
    The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophe.
    • 1896, Henry W[illiam] Lucy, “[Session 1894.] A Bad Beginning.”, in A Diary of the Home Rule Parliament, 1892-1895, London, Paris, Melbourne, Vic.: Cassell and Company, Limited, page 320:
      Last night, after the brief sitting of the House of Lords, and before catastrophe befell the Government in the Commons, I had a long chat with the Premier, in which he discussed the Home Rule question and his relations with it in perfectly frank manner.
    • 1913, H. G. Wells, “The New Source of Energy”, in The World Set Free[1], New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, pages 54–55:
      Between these high lights accumulated disaster, social catastrophe.
    • 1964, Nikos Kazantzakis, Michael Cacoyannis, Zorba the Greek, spoken by Alexis Zorba (Anthony Quinn):
      Am I not a man? And is a man not stupid? I'm a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe.
  2. (insurance) A disaster beyond expectations.
  3. (narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.
  4. (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Dutch[edit]

Noun[edit]

catastrophe f (plural catastrophes)

  1. (archaic) Superseded spelling of catastrofe.

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin catastropha, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

catastrophe f (plural catastrophes)

  1. catastrophe
    Synonym: désastre

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Verb[edit]

catastrophe

  1. inflection of catastropher:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading[edit]