disaster

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /dɪˈzas.təː/ UK /dɪˈzɑːs.təː/ See IPA manual

Freq #2706

Meanings

1

noun
A sudden event, such as a flood or earthquake, that causes great damage or loss of life.

The earthquake was the worst natural disaster in the country's history.
2

noun
Something that goes very badly or has a very bad result.

The dinner party turned into a complete disaster.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sudden event, such as a... catastrophe calamity

2 noun · something that goes very... catastrophe

More adversity apocalypse misery qualm woe

Word family

Forms disasters

Derived forms blizzasterdisasterclassdisasterlessdisasterlydisasteroiddisasterpiecedisastropheecodisastermegadisasterminidisasternondisasterpost-disaster

Related forms accident disastrous disastrously misadventure mischance misfortune mishap

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

disaster area
a region badly affected by a major destructive event

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Disaster came into English in the mid-16th century from Italian disastro, meaning “ill-starred event,” probably influenced by the corresponding French word. Disastro combines dis-, expressing negation, with astro, “star,” from Latin astrum.

Etymology

From Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.

*h₂eHs- Proto-Indo-European desastre Middle French disastro Italian astrum Latin ἄστρον Ancient Greek *h₂stḗr Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# disaster

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈzas.təː/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈzɑːs.təː/
**Frequency rank:** 2706

## Meanings
1. A sudden event, such as a flood or earthquake, that causes great damage or loss of life.
2. Something that goes very badly or has a very bad result.

## Examples
- The earthquake was the worst natural disaster in the country's history.
- The dinner party turned into a complete disaster.

## Synonyms
- adversity
- apocalypse
- calamity
- catastrophe
- misery
- qualm
- woe

## Derived Forms
- blizzaster
- disasterclass
- disasterless
- disasterly
- disasteroid
- disasterpiece
- disastrophe
- ecodisaster
- megadisaster
- minidisaster
- nondisaster
- post-disaster

## Related Forms
- accident
- disastrous
- disastrously
- misadventure
- mischance
- misfortune
- mishap

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂eHs-
- Root: desastre
- Root: disastro
- Root: astrum
- Root: ἄστρον
- Root: *h₂stḗr

## Etymology
From Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.

## AI Etymology
disaster comes from Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-, Middle French desastre, Italian disastro, Latin astrum, Ancient Greek ἄστρον, and later related forms. Current senses include A sudden event, such as a flood or earthquake, that causes great damage or loss of life and Something that goes very badly or has a very bad result. English relatives and later formations include blizzaster, disasterclass, disasterless, accident, disastrous.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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