catastrophe

See also: catastrophé and catastrophë

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

catastrophe

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

catastrophë (now rare)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈtæstɹəfi/
Audio (General American): (file)
Hyphenation: ca‧tas‧tro‧phe
Rhymes: -æstɹəfi

Noun

catastrophe (countable and uncountable, plural catastrophes)

Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophe.
- 1896, Henry W[illiam] Lucy, “[Session 1894.] 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^[1], 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.
- 2019 May 28, Raymond Zhong, Carolyn Zhang, “Food Delivery Apps Are Drowning China in Plastic”, in The New York Times (Technology section)‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 May 2019:
  For years, Mao Da, an environmental researcher, has studied the plastic industry in Wen’an County, near Beijing. Workers there used to sort through food and medical waste by hand, he said. Nonrecyclable material was buried in pits near farmland.
  “It was an environmental and public health catastrophe,” Mr. Mao said.
(insurance) A disaster beyond expectations.
(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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], 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.
(mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

any large and disastrous event of great significance

Albanian: katastrofë (sq) f, fatkeqësi (sq) f
Arabic: كَارِثَة f (kāriṯa), فَاجِعَة f (fājiʕa), مُصِيبَة f (muṣība), آفَة f (ʔāfa)
Armenian: աղետ (hy) (aġet)
Azerbaijani: faciə (az), fəlakət (az), müsibət (az)
Belarusian: катастро́фа f (katastrófa), бе́дства (be) n (bjédstva)
Bengali: দুর্যোগ (bn) (durjōg), আফত (bn) (aphot)
Bulgarian: катастро́фа (bg) f (katastrófa), бе́дствие (bg) n (bédstvie)
Burmese: ဘေးဆိုး (my) (bhe:hcui:)
Catalan: catàstrofe (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 災難 / 灾难 (zoi¹ naan⁶), 災殃 / 灾殃 (zoi¹ joeng¹), 災害 / 灾害 (zoi¹ hoi⁶), 災禍 / 灾祸 (zoi¹ wo⁶)

Mandarin: 災難 / 灾难 (zh) (zāinàn), 災殃 / 灾殃 (zh) (zāiyāng), 災害 / 灾害 (zh) (zāihài), 災禍 / 灾祸 (zh) (zāihuò)
Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
Danish: katastrofe (da) c
Dutch: catastrofe (nl) f, ramp (nl) f, onheil (nl) n
Esperanto: katastrofo
Estonian: katastroof (et), õnnetus (et)
Finnish: katastrofi (fi)
French: catastrophe (fr) f
Galician: catástrofe f
Georgian: კატასტროფა (ḳaṭasṭropa)
German: Katastrophe (de) f, Unglück (de) n, Unheil (de) n
Greek: καταστροφή (el) f (katastrofí), όλεθρος (el) m (ólethros)
Ancient Greek: καταστροφή f (katastrophḗ)
Haitian Creole: katastwòf
Hebrew: קָטַסְטְרוֹפָה (he) f (katastrófa), אָסוֹן (he) m (asón)
Hindi: तबाही (hi) f (tabāhī), आपदा (hi) f (āpdā), आफ़त f (āfat), मुसीबत (hi) f (musībat)
Hungarian: katasztrófa (hu), szerencsétlenség (hu)
Icelandic: katastrófa f
Ido: katastrofo (io)
Indonesian: bencana (id), katastrofe (id)
Irish: anachain (ga) f, eirleach m, matalang m, tubaiste (ga) f, turraing f
Italian: catastrofe (it) f
Japanese: 大災害 (ja) (だいさいがい, daisaigai), 災難 (ja) (さいなん, sainan), 災害 (ja) (さいがい, saigai), 災殃 (ja) (さいおう, saiō)
Kazakh: апат (kk) (apat), қирау (qıyraw), алапат (alapat)
Khmer: មហន្តរាយ (mĕəʼhɑntaʼraay), ភយូបទ្រព (km) (phĕəʼyuupaʼtrup), ហាយនៈ (km) (haayĕəʼnĕəʼ), ភយន្តរាយ (km) (phĕəʼyŏəntaʼraay)
Korean: 재난(災難) (ko) (jaenan), 재앙(災殃) (ko) (jaeang), 재해(災害) (ko) (jaehae)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: karesat (ku), mûsîbet (ku), felaket (ku)
Kyrgyz: катастрофа (katastrofa), кыйроо (ky) (kıyroo), апаат (ky) (apaat)
Lao: ພິບັດ (phi bat), ໄພພິບັດ (phai phi bat)
Latin: calamitās f, catastropha f
Latvian: katastrofa f, nelaime f
Lithuanian: katastrofa f, nelaimė f
Macedonian: катастро́фа f (katastrófa)
Malay: bencana (ms)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: аваар (mn) (avaar), осол (mn) (osol), гамшиг (mn) (gamšig), сүйрэл (mn) (süirel), аюул (mn) (ajuul)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: katastrofe m

Nynorsk: katastrofe m
Occitan: catastròfa (oc) f
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: бѣдьство n (bědĭstvo)
Pashto: فاجعه (ps) f (fāje'a), آفت (ps) m (āfát), مصيبت m (mosibát)
Persian:
Iranian Persian: فاجِعِه (fa) (fâje'e), فَجایِع (fa) pl (fajâye'), مُصیبَت (fa) (mosibat), آفَت (fa) (âfat)
Polish: katastrofa (pl) f, klęska (pl) f
Portuguese: catástrofe (pt) f
Romanian: catastrofă (ro) f, dezastru (ro) n
Russian: катастро́фа (ru) f (katastrófa), бе́дствие (ru) n (bédstvije)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: катастро́фа f

Latin: katastrófa (sh) f
Sinhalese: ව්‍යසන (si) (wyasana)
Slovak: katastrofa f
Slovene: katastrofa f
Spanish: catástrofe (es) f
Swedish: katastrof (sv) c
Tajik: садама (tg) (sadama), фалокат (tg) (falokat), ҳалокат (tg) (halokat), фоҷеа (fojea), фоҷиа (fojia), мусибат (tg) (musibat), офат (ofat)
Tatar: афәт (tt) (afät)
Thai: พิบัติ (th) (pí-bàt), ภัยพิบัติ (th) (pai-pí-bàt), มหันตภัย
Turkish: felaket (tr), facia (tr), afet (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: فاجعه (faciʼa), غول (ğul)
Turkmen: heläkçilik, betbagtlyk (tk), betbagtçylyk (tk)
Ukrainian: катастро́фа (uk) f (katastrófa), бі́дство n (bídstvo), ли́хо (uk) n (lýxo)
Urdu: آفَت (ur) f (āfat), مُصِیبَت (ur) f (musībat), تَباہی f (tabāhī)
Uyghur: پالاكەت (palaket), ھالاكەت (halaket), ئاپەت (apet), بەختسىزلىك (bextsizlik)
Uzbek: katastrofa, fojia (uz), halokat (uz), falokat (uz), musibat (uz), afat (uz), ofat (uz), baxtsizlik (uz)
Vietnamese: tai ương (vi), tai họa lớn, thảm hoạ (vi)
Volapük: katastrof (vo)
Walloon: rascråwe (wa) f

disaster beyond expectations

Arabic: نَكْبَة f (nakba), فَاجِعَة f (fājiʕa)
Belarusian: катастро́фа f (katastrófa)
Bulgarian: катастро́фа (bg) f (katastrófa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 災難 / 灾难 (zh) (zāinàn)
Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
Danish: katastrofe (da) c
Finnish: katastrofi (fi)
Georgian: კატასტროფა (ḳaṭasṭropa)
German: Katastrophe (de) f
Greek: καταστροφή (el) f (katastrofí)
Indonesian: katastrofe (id)
Italian: catastrofe (it) f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: katastrofe m

Nynorsk: katastrofe m
Persian:
Iranian Persian: فاجِعِه (fa) (fâje'e), فَجایِع (fa) pl (fajâye')
Portuguese: catástrofe (pt) f
Romanian: catastrofă (ro) f
Russian: катастро́фа (ru) f (katastrófa)
Swedish: katastrof (sv) c
Turkish: felaket (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: فاجعه (faciʼa), غول (ğul)
Ukrainian: катастро́фа (uk) f (katastrófa)
Vietnamese: thảm họa (vi)
Volapük: katastrof (vo)

Ancient Greek tragedies: the solution of the plot

Bulgarian: катастро́фа (bg) f (katastrófa)
Catalan: catàstrofe (ca) f
Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
Finnish: katastrofi (fi)
German: Katastrophe (de) f
Greek: έκβαση (el) f (ékvasi)
Indonesian: katastrofe (id)
Irish: catastróf f
Italian: catastrofe (it) f
Romanian: deznodământ (ro) n
Spanish: catástrofe (es) f

mathematics: type of bifurcation

Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
Czech: katastrofa (cs) f
Finnish: katastrofi (fi)
Italian: catastrofe (it) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked