catastrophe
/kəˈtæstɹəfi/kuh-TA-struh-fee
/kəˈtæstɹəfi/kuh-TA-struh-fee
Meaningan overturning
Common meaning: a sudden disaster
- catadown (Greek kata)
- strophto turnLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1438 · scan
‘down (Greek kata)’ + ‘to turn’ → catastrophe
Journey through time
- Greekστρέφω‘to turn’
- Englishcatastrophe‘a sudden disaster’ · today
stroph also in: apostrophe
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek στρέφω ‘to turn’.
Roots
- στρέφω Greek “to turn”
Related words
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