Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The intensified part of the action directly preceding the catastrophe in classical tragedy.
- n. The climax of a drama.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In rhetoric, that part of the exordium in which the speaker seeks to dispose his hearers to a view of the case favorable to his own side, especially by removing from their minds what might prejudice them against it.
- n. That part of the Greek drama in which the action, initiated in the epitasis, is sustained, continued, and prepared for the catastrophe.
- n. In medicine, constitution, state, or condition.
Wiktionary
- n. In classical drama, the third and penultimate section, in which action is heightened for the catastrophe.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Rhet.) That part of a speech, usually the exordium, in which the orator sets forth the subject matter to be discussed.
- n. (Med.) The state, or condition of anything; constitution; habit of body.
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek κατάστασις ("settling, appointment"). (Wiktionary)
- Greek katastasis, settled state, from kathistanai, to come into a certain state : kat-, kata-, cata- + histanai, to set; see stā- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It doubles itself in the middle of his life, reflects itself in another, repeats itself, protasis, epitasis, catastasis, catastrophe.”
“Consider therefore this pitiable Twentieth of June as a futility; no catastrophe, rather a catastasis, or heightening.”
“Raise the interest rates but also curb the usury that sends people into a financial catastasis.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘catastasis’.
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phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
caballine, cabas, cable, caboched, cabochon, caboose, cabotage, cabré, cabrie, cabriole, cabriolet, cacaesthesia and 1298 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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What David Foster Wallace circled in ...
ablative, ablaut, abulia, acephalous, ACTH, adit, adumbrate, agrapha, ailanthus, aleatory, alfresco, algolagnia and 474 more...
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What David Foster Wallace Circled in ...
http://www.slate.com/id/2250784/
ablative absolute, ablaut, abulia, acephalous, ACTH, adit, adumbrate, agrapha, aleatory, ailanthus, alfresco, algolagnia and 482 more...
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Oblivion
By David Foster Wallace
ossify, reverie, hypergeometric, emetic, mien, cruciform, accreted, perpend, rheostat, predilections, coccyx, hirsute and 178 more...
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Words of Standing
steed, stool, estancia, stage, stance, staunch, stanch, stanchion, stanza, stative, stator, stay and 180 more...
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Tandem repeat
Words that have an adjacent repeat of three or more letters. I've omitted most words ending in "-inging" where both g's are hard. I've excluded words composed solely of repeats and the plurals of t...
nonsense, chihuahua, sesterterpene, ovotestes, furfuraceous, borborygmi, materteral, tintinnabulating, syringing, zinging, purpurate, seismism and 154 more...
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To Learn
paratonnerre, apophenia, aposiopesis, compline, rebarbatiive, comity, averruncate, apodictic, apophasis, farouche, accismus, abligurition and 157 more...
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jsfalzone's list
First Go
prolix, concordant, foetally, quotidian, captious, abet, anomie, catastasis, demotic, fomentation, plinth, epitatic and 2 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for catastasis.

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