different between cataclysmic vs crucial

English

Etymology

From cataclysm +? -ic.

Adjective

cataclysmic (comparative more cataclysmic, superlative most cataclysmic)

1. Of or pertaining to a cataclysm; causing great destruction or upheaval; catastrophic.

   It is believed that a cataclysmic impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

   • 2005, Edmund White, My Women

     That’s why to be rejected in love was so cataclysmic: one had been judged and found wanting.

Related terms

• cataclysm
• cataclysmic variable star

Translations

English

Etymology

1706, from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux, crucis (“cross”) (English crux), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”).

The meaning “decisive, critical” is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon in his influential Novum Organum (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?u?.??l/
• Rhymes: -u???l

Adjective

crucial (comparative more crucial, superlative most crucial)

1. Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:important
2. (archaic) Cruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.
3. (slang, especially Jamaican, Bermuda) Very good; excellent; particularly applied to reggae music.

Derived terms

• crucial experiment

Related terms

• cross
• crux

Translations

References

French

Etymology

From a root of Latin crux (“cross”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?y.sjal/

Adjective

crucial (feminine singular cruciale, masculine plural cruciaux, feminine plural cruciales)

1. cruciform
2. crucial, critical, vital

Further reading

• “crucial” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: cru?ci?al

Adjective

crucial m or f (plural cruciais, comparable)

1. crucial

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:crucial.

Romanian

Etymology

From French crucial

Adjective

crucial m or n (feminine singular crucial?, masculine plural cruciali, feminine and neuter plural cruciale)

1. pivotal

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From English crucial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /k?u??jal/, [k?u??jal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /k?u?sjal/, [k?u?sjal]

Adjective

crucial (plural cruciales)

1. crucial