different between wretchedness vs catastrophe

English

Etymology

wretched +? -ness

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???t??dn?s/
• Hyphenation: wretch?ed?ness

Noun

wretchedness (usually uncountable, plural wretchednesses)

1. An unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.
   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 3

     She saw only that he was quiet and unobtrusive, and she liked him for it. He did not disturb the wretchedness of her mind by ill-timed conversation.

2. A state of prolonged misfortune, privation, or anguish.

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• catastrophë (now rare)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????????? (katastroph?), from ?????????? (katastréph?, “I overturn”), from ???? (katá, “down, against”) + ?????? (stréph?, “I turn”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /k??tæst??fi/
• Hyphenation: ca?tas?tro?phe

Noun

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

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Dutch

Noun

catastrophe f (plural catastrophes)

1. (archaic) Superseded spelling of catastrofe.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin catastropha, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ?????????? (katastroph?).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.tas.t??f/

Noun

catastrophe f (plural catastrophes)

1. catastrophe

Synonyms

• cata (informal)
• désastre

Derived terms

• en catastrophe

Verb

catastrophe

1. first-person singular present indicative of catastropher
2. third-person singular present indicative of catastropher
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of catastropher
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of catastropher
5. second-person singular imperative of catastropher

Further reading

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