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Catastrophe

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ca⋅tas⋅tro⋅phe

  [kuh-tas-truh-fee]
Use Catastrophe in a Sentence
–noun
1. a sudden and widespread disaster: the catastrophe of war.
2. any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco: The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe.
3. a final event or conclusion, usually an unfortunate one; a disastrous end: the great catastrophe of the Old South at Appomattox.
4. (in a drama) the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close or conclusion; dénouement. Compare catastasis, epitasis, protasis.
5. Geology. a sudden, violent disturbance, esp. of a part of the surface of the earth; cataclysm.
6. Also called catastrophe function. Mathematics. any of the mathematical functions that describe the discontinuities that are treated in catastrophe theory.
Origin:
1570–80; < Gk katastroph an overturning, akin to katastréphein to overturn. See cata-, strophe

Related forms:
cat⋅a⋅stroph⋅ic  [kat-uh-strof-ik] , cat⋅a⋅stroph⋅i⋅cal, ca⋅tas⋅tro⋅phal, adjective
cat⋅a⋅stroph⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. misfortune, calamity. 1, 3. See disaster.

Antonyms:
1, 3. triumph.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ca·tas·tro·phe   (kə-tās'trə-fē)   
n.  

  1. A great, often sudden calamity.

  2. A complete failure; a fiasco: The food was cold, the guests quarreled—the whole dinner was a catastrophe.

  3. The concluding action of a drama, especially a classical tragedy, following the climax and containing a resolution of the plot.

  4. A sudden violent change in the earth's surface; a cataclysm.


[Greek katastrophē, an overturning, ruin, conclusion, from katastrephein, to ruin, undo : kata-, cata- + strephein, to turn; see streb(h)- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

catastrophe 
1540, "reversal of what is expected" (especially a fatal turning point in a drama), from Gk. katastrephein "to overturn," from kata "down" + strephein "turn." Extension to "sudden disaster" is first recorded 1748. Catastrophism as a geological or biological theory is from 1869.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ca·tas·tro·phe
Pronunciation: k&-'tas-tr&-fE
Function: noun
: death (as from an inexplicable cause) before, during,or after an operation
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Encyclopedia

catastrophe

in literature, the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot in a play, especially in a tragedy. Catastrophe is a synonym of denouement. The term is sometimes applied to a similar action in a novel or story.

Learn more about catastrophe with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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