Nearby Words
noun, plural -ties.
1.
a great misfortune or disaster, as a flood or serious injury.
2.
grievous affliction; adversity; misery: the calamity of war.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English calamite < Middle French < Latin calamitāt- (stem of calamitās), perhaps akin to incolumitās safety
1375–1425; late Middle English calamite < Middle French < Latin calamitāt- (stem of calamitās), perhaps akin to incolumitās safety
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Calamities
is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
calamity
early 15c., from M.Fr. calamite (14c.), from L. calamitatem (nom. calamitas) "damage, loss, failure; disaster, misfortune, adversity," origin obscure. L. writers associated it with calamus "straw," but it is perhaps from a lost root preserved in incolumis "uninjured."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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