apocalypse
English
Etymology
From Middle English apocalips, from Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis, “revelation”), literally meaning "uncovering", from ἀπό (apó, “back, away from”) and καλύπτω (kalúptō, “I cover”). The sense evolution to "catastrophe, end of the world" stems from the depiction of such events in the biblical Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse of (i.e. Revelation to) John.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /əˈpɒkəlɪps/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (US) IPA(key): /əˈpɑkəlɪps/
- Hyphenation: a‧poc‧a‧lypse
Noun
apocalypse (plural apocalypses)
- A revelation, especially of supernatural events. [from 14th c.]
- The early development of Perl 6 was punctuated by a series of apocalypses by Larry Wall.
- (Christianity) The unveiling of events prophesied in the Revelation; the second coming and the end of life on Earth; global destruction. [from 19th c.]
- (Christianity) The Book of Revelation.
- A disaster; a cataclysmic event; destruction or ruin. [from 19th c.]
- A nuclear apocalypse would have been possible if tensions went out of control during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 180:
- Man has forgotten the soul and thus doomed his civilization to apocalypse.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 699:
- The Spanish mission in America soon became not so much crusade as apocalypse.
Synonyms
- armageddon
- doomsday
- Ragnarok (Ragnarök)
- end times
- eschaton
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “apocalypse”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
French
Etymology
From Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis).
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
apocalypse f (plural apocalypses)
- apocalypse (disaster)
Related terms
Further reading
- “apocalypse”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Noun
apocalypse
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱel- (cover)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Christianity
- English terms with quotations
- en:Eschatology
- en:Afterlife
- English terms derived from the Bible
- English terms prefixed with apo-
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin noun forms
- Latin terms spelled with Y