κατακλυσμός

Forms

κᾰτᾰκλῠσμός (kataklusmós) m (genitive κᾰτᾰκλῠσμοῦ); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek κατακλύζω (kataklúzō, “to wash away, deluge”) with the suffix -μός (-mós), the verb being κατα- (kata-, “down”) and κλύζω (klúzō, “to wash”).^[1][2][3] Κλύζω comes from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlewH- (“to wash, clean”).^[1][4] Cognate with Latin cluō (“to clean”), Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌿𐍄𐍂𐍃 (hlūtrs, “pure”), Welsh clir (“clear, pure”) and probably Lithuanian šlúoti (“to sweep”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plato is the first to use it, in the Timaeus and Critias for the great floods that periodically destroy mankind, and in the Laws.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Plato and Aristotle it is a flood or deluge, and Plato uses it figuratively of diseases sweeping through a city, and Demosthenes of a political “deluge” that washes events away.^[6][7][2] The Parian Marble uses it of Deucalion's flood, and a papyrus of the 3rd century BC of an ordinary inundation.^[8][6] The Septuagint chose it for Noah's flood in Genesis, and the New Testament uses it only of that flood.^[9][8] Coptic borrowed it.^[10]

English cataclysm (1630s), first of Noah's flood, came through French cataclysme, from Latin or directly from Greek.^[11] Vernacular medieval Greek kept the word for a flood of water, and the learned Modern Greek κατακλυσμός (kataklysmós) continues it.^[12][13]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for the floods that destroy mankind and, figuratively, for disease.^[6][7]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes speaks of a political deluge, and Aristotle of floods.^[6][7]
• 3rd century BC – A papyrus uses it for an inundation, and the Parian Marble for Deucalion's flood.^[6][8]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for Noah's flood.^[8]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for a flood of water.^[12]
• 1630s – English borrows cataclysm through French.^[11]
• Modern Greek – The learned κατακλυσμός (kataklysmós) continues the word.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flood, deluge, inundation.^[6][7]
2. (Koine) The Flood of Noah.^[8][9]
3. (figurative) A deluge of troubles or events that sweeps things away.^[6][7]
4. (medicine) An affusion, a douche.^[6]

Related words

• κατακλύζω (kataklúzō)
• κλύζω (klúzō)
• English cataclysm

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ Μανδουλίδης, Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της αρχαίας ελληνικής
4. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki