Apocalypse

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /əˈpÉ’kÉ™lɪps/
• US IPA: /əˈpÉ‘kÉ™lɪps/
• Hyphenation: a + poc + a + lypse

Origin

From Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokalupsis, "revelation"), from ἀπό (apo, "away") and καλύπτω (kaluptō, "I cover").

Full definition of apocalypse

Noun

1. A revelation. from 14th c.The early development of Perl 6 was punctuated by a series of apocalypses by Larry Wall.
2. (Christianity) The unveiling of events prophesied in the Book of Revelation; the second coming and the end of life on Earth; global destruction. from 19th c.
3. A disaster; a cataclysmic event. from 19th c.
• 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 699:The Spanish mission in America soon became not so much crusade as apocalypse.

Synonyms

• armageddon
• doomsday
• judgement day
• nuclear holocaust
• Ragnarok (Ragnarök)
• Final Judgment
• end times
• eschaton

Derived terms

• apocalyptic
• apocalypticism