• (RP, GA) IPA: /kəˈtæstɹəfi/

catastrophe (plural catastrophes)

1. any large and disastrous event of great significance
2. (insurance) a disaster beyond expectations
3. (narratology) the dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii], page 286 ↗, column 2:

     Pat : he comes like the Cataſtrophe of the old Comedie : my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a ſighe like Tom o’ Bedlam.

4. (mathematics) a type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states

• French: catastrophe
• German: Katastrophe, Unglück
• Italian: catastrofe
• Portuguese: catástrofe
• Russian: катастро́фа
• Spanish: catástrofe

• German: Katastrophe
• Italian: catastrofe
• Portuguese: catástrofe
• Russian: катастро́фа

• German: Katastrophe
• Italian: catastrofe
• Spanish: catástrofe

• Italian: catastrofe