Cataclysm

Etymology

French cataclysme, from Latin cataclysmos, from Greek kataklysmos, from kataklyzein to inundate, from kata- + klyzein to wash —

• Date: 1599

Definitions

• 1 : flood, deluge
• 2 : catastrophe
• 3 : a momentous and violent event marked by overwhelming upheaval and demolition; broadly : an event that brings great changes

Description

Cataclysm is the Greek expression for the Deluge, from the Greek kataklysmos, to 'wash down' (kluzein "wash" + kata "down").[citation needed] Its analogue is an ekpyrosis (conflagration). In the Bible, it has also been used to describe events such as the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the tenth plague of Egypt. The modern usage of cataclysm is mostly confined to geological phenomena of high significance, such as the destruction of Pompeii, the Tunguska event, or the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the destruction of the Bolivar Peninsula by Hurricane Ike. Today the word is used to describe catastrophes of extreme devastation and magnitude.