cataclysm
pronunciation
How to pronounce cataclysm in British English:
UK [ˈkætəklɪzəm]
How to pronounce cataclysm in American English:
US [ˈkætəklɪzəm]
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- Noun:
- a sudden violent change in the earth's surface
- an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
Word Origin
- cataclysm (n.)
- 1630s, from French cataclysme (16c.), from Latin cataclysmos or directly from Greek kataklysmos "deluge, flood, inundation," from kataklyzein "to deluge," from kata "down" (see cata-) + klyzein "to wash," from PIE *kleue- "to wash, clean" (see cloaca).
Example
- 1. It 's a cataclysm for all mankind .
- 2. A sudden violent change in the earth 's surface ; a cataclysm .
- 3. Cataclysm testing will start in april .
- 4. Old aristocratic institutions destroyed by the revolutionary cataclysm .
- 5. So much better for all the rumors about a coming cataclysm to be related to a mere dirty snowball , a common comet !