a large-scale and violent event in the natural world (自然界的)剧变,大变化 ■a sudden violent upheaval, especially in a political or social context (尤指政治或社会方面的)大动乱,大变革 the cataclysm of the First World War. 第一次世界大战的大灾难。
派生 语源
early 17th cent. (originally denoting the biblical Flood described in Genesis): from French cataclysme, via Latin from Greek kataklusmos 'deluge', from kata- 'down' + kluzein 'to wash'