catastrophe

English

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catastrophe

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• catastrophë (now rare)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈtæstɹəfi/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧tas‧tro‧phe

Noun

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, “ 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, 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.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 286, column 2:

     Pat : he comes like the Cataſtrophe of the old Comedie : my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a ſighe like Tom o’ Bedlam.

4. (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Dutch

Noun

catastrophe f (plural catastrophes)

1. (archaic) Superseded spelling of catastrofe.

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.tas.tʁɔf/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

catastrophe f (plural catastrophes)

1. catastrophe

   Synonym: désastre

Synonyms

• cata (informal)

Derived terms

• en catastrophe
• scénario catastrophe

Verb

catastrophe

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

Further reading

• “catastrophe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.