[got-er-dam-uh-roo
ng, -ruhng; Ger. gœt-uhr-dem-uh-roong] 
| 1. | German Mythology. the destruction of the gods and of all things in a final battle with evil powers: erroneous modern translation of the Old Icelandic Ragnarǫk, meaning “fate of the gods,” misunderstood as Ragnarökkr, meaning “twilight of the gods.” |
| 2. | (italics) the final opera of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung. |
| göt·ter·däm·mer·ung or Göt·ter·däm·mer·ung (gŏt'ər-dām'ə-rŭng', gɶt'ər-děm'ə-rŏŏng') n. A turbulent ending of a regime or an institution: "The nation had been flirting with forms of götterdämmerung, with extremes of vocabulary and behavior and an appetite for violent resolution" (Lance Morrow). [After Götterdämmerung, an opera by Richard Wagner, from German, twilight of the gods : Götter, genitive pl. of Gott, god (from Middle High German got, from Old High German; see gheu(ə)- in Indo-European roots) + Dämmerung, twilight (from Middle High German demerunge, from Old High German demerunga, from demar, twilight).] |