- catastrophe
[catastrophe 词源字典]
- catastrophe: see apostrophe
[catastrophe etymology, catastrophe origin, 英语词源] - catastrophe (n.)
- 1530s, "reversal of what is expected" (especially a fatal turning point in a drama), from Latin catastropha, from Greek katastrophe "an overturning; a sudden end," from katastrephein "to overturn, turn down, trample on; to come to an end," from kata "down" (see cata-) + strephein "turn" (see strophe). Extension to "sudden disaster" is first recorded 1748.