calamity English · revision 2479

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˈlæmɪti/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|calamite]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) [[bor|frm|calamité]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) [[der|la|calamitās|t=damage, disaster, adversity]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) a word of obscure origin.^(Etymonline) Early etymologists linked it with Latin ''calamus'' “straw”, through damage to crops, but Etymonline treats this as folk etymology.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster compares Latin ''clādēs'' “destruction”, and Random House ''incolumitās'' “safety”.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Damage; a state of adversity or deep distress (early 15th century).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first meant a state of adversity and misery;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) from the 1550s it was also used for a single disastrous event causing loss and distress,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and this is now the commoner sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The adjective ''calamitous'' followed in 1545.^(Barnhart 1995) ''Calamity Jane'' was the nickname of the American frontierswoman Martha Jane Cannary, attested by 1876.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1425 – ''calamyte'', adversity.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1490 – a state of grievous affliction or distress.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1545 – the adjective ''calamitous''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1552 – a grievous disaster.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1892 – compounds such as ''calamity-howler'' (US).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A disastrous event causing great loss and lasting distress.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Deep distress or misery resulting from such loss.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[calamitous]]

+ * [[disaster]]

+ * [[catastrophe]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}