Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Bible The Book of Revelation.
- noun Any of a number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century BC to the second century AD containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous.
- noun The end of the world, especially as described in one of these texts.
- noun A great catastrophe that results in widespread destruction or the collapse of civilization.
- noun A prophetic disclosure; a revelation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (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.
- noun 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).
- noun 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.
- noun 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.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil
- noun 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 The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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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.
Blogging.la 2010
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These days the apocalypse is a profitable business.
9 Companies Cashing In On Our Doomsday Fears (PHOTOS) The Huffington Post News Team 2010
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These days the apocalypse is a profitable business.
9 Companies Cashing In On Our Doomsday Fears (PHOTOS) Ryan McCarthy 2010
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These days the apocalypse is a profitable business.
9 Companies Cashing In On Our Doomsday Fears (PHOTOS) Ryan McCarthy 2010
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These days the apocalypse is a profitable business.
9 Companies Cashing In On Our Doomsday Fears (PHOTOS) Ryan McCarthy 2010
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These days the apocalypse is a profitable business.
9 Companies Cashing In On Our Doomsday Fears (PHOTOS) Ryan McCarthy 2010
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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 2008
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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.
A Climate of Opinion Lou Anders 2006
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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.
SFGate: Top News Stories Spec pinkletters@sfchronicle.com (Michael Ordoña 2011
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The translation of the Greek word apocalypse has produced the better known English equivalent - "revelation."
The Real Truth 2009
eschatonic commented on the word apocalypse
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.
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word apocalypse
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)
October 17, 2010
horten commented on the word apocalypse
I am breathing in the chemacils whoa whoa I waking up in the apocalypse woah woah
January 16, 2016