Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Bible The Book of Revelation.
- n. Any of a number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century B.C. to the second century A.D. containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous.
- n. Great or total devastation; doom: the apocalypse of nuclear war.
- n. A prophetic disclosure; a revelation.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Revelation; discovery; disclosure; specifically (with a capital letter), a title of the last book of the New Testament, usually called the book of Revelation, and in the English version the Revelation of St. John the Divine.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Eccl.) One of a numerous class of writings proceeding from Jewish authors between 250 b. c. and 150 a. d., and designed to propagate the Jewish faith or to cheer the hearts of the Jewish people with the promise of deliverance and glory; or proceeding from Christian authors of the opening centuries and designed to portray the future.
- n. Specifically, the revelation delivered to St. John, in the isle of Patmos, near the close of the first century, forming the last book of the New Testament (called Revelation or the Apocalypse).
- n. Anything viewed as a revelation, especially one that is highly significant for the person receiving it; a disclosure. Often used of a realization or revelation that changes a person's goals or style of life.
- n. the final battle between good and evil, as foreseen in Saint John's Apocalypse; the time when God conquers the powers of evil, attended by cataclysmic cosmic events, and sometimes thought of as the end of the world; an Armageddon.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil
- n. the last book of the New Testament; contains visionary descriptions of heaven and of conflicts between good and evil and of the end of the world; attributed to Saint John the Apostle
Etymologies
- From Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokalupsis, "revelation"), from ἀπό (apo, "away") and καλύπτω (kaluptō, "I cover"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English Apocalipse, from Late Latin Apocalypsis, from Greek apokalupsis, revelation, Apocalypse, from apokaluptein, to uncover : apo-, apo- + kaluptein, to cover. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word "apocalypse" comes from the Greek word for "to uncover" or "reveal," and Conor Horgan's One Hundred Mornings, in some respects, simply lifts the lid off our petroleum-based, strung-out-on-technology culture to show us what's left when we strip away the lights and the cars and the iGadgets.”
“These days the apocalypse is a profitable business.”
The Huffington Post: 9 Companies Cashing In On Our Doomsday Fears (PHOTOS)
“It scared me, and it takes things like "the world's going to end" or "the apocalypse is approaching" to scare me.”
Twilight's First Official Photo and Why I'm Passing « FirstShowing.net
“I think the apocalypse is a burden that the cultures of religion, nuclear war and physics (the Big Bang implies an ending, and we find it hard to think about what may be the case, no start and no end) all unconsciously participated in creating.”
“Perhaps because of antics such as these, and Woodrow and Aiden's fascinations, the word "apocalypse" has been thrown around in connection with the film.”
“The translation of the Greek word apocalypse has produced the better known English equivalent - "revelation.”
“Intrigued, I typed in "apocalypse" and found the following:”
“It’s crucial to have an understanding of the word apocalypse in order to grasp the level of conflict that occurs here.”
“Writing some story of a global warming end-of-world apocalypse is about as taboo as writing a story mocking and deriding the USA's most recent ex-president ie it is not taboo, it is anything but taboo, since it is consensus opinion - safe, conventional, easy and dare I say it lazy.”
“They are ready and feel that this apocalypse is on the verge of commencement.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘apocalypse’.
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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sdamle1
echt
echt, apocalypse, resurgence, forthright, logorrhea, mercurial, torrid, exorcise, obscure, intrusive, morose, vindictive and 100 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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Headlines & Newsmakers
frugality, environment, extinction, bible, killer, jazz, cloning, dead, god, moon, global warming, bailout and 340 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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Postscripture ✞
Terms associated with the Christianity, The Bible, etc. I have a related, but more narrow list called Imbible Code.
A related list is Words Associated With Jesus.apostole, pharaoh, sodom, babel, sabbath, baptize, cherub, elohim, lapsarian, crucifixion, nephilim, hosanna and 195 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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Before and After the Fall
Arcadia to Apocalypse
prelapsarian, arcadian, armageddon, paradise lost, apocalypse, eden, edenic, golden age, end of the world, garden of eden, arcadia, antediluvian and 6 more...
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Catastrophes!
It started with catastrophe theory but I don't know where it will end.
fold catastrophe, cusp catastrophe, swallowtail catas..., butterfly catastr..., hyperbolic umbili..., elliptic umbilic ..., parabolic umbilic..., catastrophe theory, catastrophism, catastrophic kill, eucatastrophe, grey goo and 14 more...
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Words for the Modern Man
A list of words and phrases for those who are not all too familiar with the 21st century.
3G, 4G, affluenza, agritourism, auto-tune, burkini, buzz, captcha, chatroom, cloud, content farm, dramedy and 21 more...
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Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV
Words from the songs of Frank Black, a.k.a. Black Francis
zugzwang, valhalla, montalvo, ishist, tritons, mosh, siam, llano del rio, protohuman, tumbleweeds, ludwigshafen, ballyhoos and 349 more...
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wakcy's Words
apocalypse, interlude, drome, absolution, atrocity, ruse, pristine, mason, reparable, deteriorate, pyramid, hipster and 283 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, A
abaculus, abacus, abaft, abarticular, abbreviate, abeyance, abiding, anthocyanin, antemeridian, arcane, adjure, adduce and 418 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for apocalypse.
oroboros The Four Palindromes of the Apocalypse
An era, midst its dim arena
Elapses pale.
No, in uneven union
Liars, alas, rail.
– Leigh Mercer (via futilitycloset.com) Oct 17, 2010
eschatonic the stated definition, while it explains the most common modern use of the word, is not the original definition. in the original greek it just means something like disclosure or uncovering. that's why the last chapter of the bible is called "revelations" -- it's a direct translation of the greek word. Aug 18, 2009