Katastrophe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sudden event of great damage, destruction or suffering ; the final decisive turn in a play that resolves its plot
2. An abrupt calamity that brings widespread ruin or misery ; the climactic outcome of a drama in which the plot is resolved
3. A sweeping disaster producing severe harm or loss ; in drama, the concluding event that unravels the action and ends the story

Etymology: Ancient Greek "katastrophē" meant "overturning" or "turning down," built from "kata" (down) and "strephein" (to turn). In Greek drama it was the technical term for the final turn of a plot, the moment when the story reversed and the hero's fortunes were overthrown, usually toward a tragic ending. Nothing in the word itself implied disaster; it described the turning point, whatever direction it took. Over time the sense narrowed to the sudden ruin that such a turn brought about. English borrowed the word from Greek, and it first appeared with its dramatic sense intact, referring to the catastrophe of a play. The meaning of sudden calamity followed, and it is this sense that dominates today.