 | WordWeight : Weighing the Words |
| WordWeight : Weighing the Words |
Catastrophe
Pronunciation : Ca*tas"tro*phe
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. catastropha, Gr.
Definition : 1. An event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune. The strange catastrophe of affairs now at London. Bp. Buret. The most horrible and portentous catastrophe that nature ever yet saw. Woodward.
2. The final event in a romance or a dramatic piece; a denouement, as a death in a tragedy, or a marriage in a comedy.
3. (Geol.)
Defn: A violent and widely extended change in the surface of the earth, as, an elevation or subsidence of some part of it, effected by internal causes. Whewell.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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