disaster

Definitions

dis- (ill, bad) + aster (star, from Latin astrum) = 'ill-starred.' In an age when people read fate in the heavens, a catastrophe was literally a sign that the stars had turned against you. The astrology is gone, but the bad star still hangs over the word.

Why It Means This

Disaster preserves a whole worldview in one word. Medieval Europe believed celestial bodies steered human destiny, so a great misfortune was an astrum that had gone wrong — an 'un-star.' Even now, when we say a project was 'a disaster,' we are unconsciously blaming a bad star, the way our ancestors did.

Common Collocations

• 1.natural disaster自然灾害
• 2.disaster relief救灾
• 3.disaster area灾区
• 4.recipe for disaster招致灾难的做法
• 5.avert disaster避免灾难

Example Sentences

• 1.

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

• 2.

  Without a backup plan, the launch turned into a complete disaster.

• 3.

  Diverting the river was a recipe for ecological disaster.