Etymologically
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catastropha

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kaˈtas.trɔ.pʰa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kaˈtas.tro.fa][1]

Forms

catastropha f (genitive catastrophae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ, “overturning; sudden end”).[2][3] The Greek is from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “to overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down”) and στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Petronius has a guest at Trimalchio's dinner fear that some comic turn of events is being sought.[5][2] Köbler dates Petronius before 66 AD.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Petronius it was a sudden reversal or sensational turn, a coup de théâtre.[2][7] The commentators on Terence, Evanthius and Donatus, made it the name of the last of the four parts of a comedy, after the prologue, protasis and epitasis, the turn of events to a happy ending.[5]

Sidonius Apollinaris uses it of the turning of a body in a ball game, and a scholiast on Juvenal of a stage machine.[5] In medieval Britain it was a turning over and a gastric spasm.[8] English catastrophe is recorded in the 1530s, of a reversal in a drama, and in the sense of a sudden disaster from 1748.[4]

Timeline

  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of a turn of events.[5][6]
  • c. 310–380 AD – Donatus names the last part of a comedy with it.[5][6]
  • c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it in a ball game.[5][6]
  • 1530s – English catastrophe is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sudden turn, a coup de théâtre.[2][7]
  2. (Late Latin) The denouement of a play.[5][9]
  3. (Late Latin) A turning movement.[5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn