calamity

English

Etymology

From Middle French calamité, from Latin calamitās (“loss, damage; disaster”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈlæmɪti/

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: ca‧lam‧i‧ty

Noun

calamity (plural calamities)

1. An event resulting in great loss.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 67, column 2:

     Romeo come forth / Come forth thou fearfull man, / Affliction is enamor’d of thy parts: / And thou art wedded to calamitie.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Age and Youth”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. , volume I, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, page 15:

     Yet, at that moment, she felt as if the acquisition of these gems were a calamity. Their possession involved separation from her uncle, from every relic of home affections, and from all that yet lingered with her of her childhood.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, , →OCLC, part I, page 199:

     And the village was deserted, the huts gaped black, rotting, all askew within the fallen enclosures. A calamity had come to it, sure enough.

2. The distress that results from some disaster.
   • 2013 August 14, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎:

     They were behind twice, first in the 11th minute when James Morrison scored a goal that was a personal calamity for Hart, and then four minutes into the second half when Kenny Miller eluded Gary Cahill to score with a splendid left-foot drive.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:disaster

Derived terms

• calamity howler

Related terms

• calamitous
• calamitously

Translations