Natalia Quintana
Professional TeacherDo you want to know where the word DISASTER comes from? Click to find out.
"DIS" means bad, and "ASTER" means STAR. This word comes from the Greeks who used to blame calamities on the stars and planetary movements.
Jun 17, 2019 9:27 AM
Comments · 10
3
That's interesting.
Following this logic a word "cafeteria" came from "coffee tea area"
June 17, 2019
2
Thank you, Natalia
Interesting information.
June 17, 2019
1
catastrophe
mid 16th century (in the sense ‘denouement’): from Latin catastropha, from Greek katastrophē‘overturning, sudden turn’, from kata- ‘down’ + strophē ‘turning’ (from strephein ‘to turn’)
mid 16th century (in the sense ‘denouement’): from Latin catastropha, from Greek katastrophē‘overturning, sudden turn’, from kata- ‘down’ + strophē ‘turning’ (from strephein ‘to turn’)
June 18, 2019
1
interesting
June 17, 2019
1
Yes. It comes indirectly from Greek.
Here is one explanation from an etymology site.
disaster (n.)
"anything that befalls of ruinous or distressing nature; any unfortunate event," especially a sudden or great misfortune, 1590s, from Middle French <em>désastre</em> (1560s), from Italian <em>disastro,</em> literally "ill-starred," from <em>dis-</em>, here merely pejorative, equivalent to English <em>mis-</em> "ill" (see <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/dis-?ref=etymonline_crossreference" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(131, 0, 29);">dis-</a>) + <em>astro</em> "star, planet," from Latin <em>astrum</em>, from Greek <em>astron</em> "star" (from PIE root <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/*ster-?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_52592" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(131, 0, 29);">*ster-</a> (2) "star").
June 17, 2019
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Natalia Quintana
Language Skills
Arabic, English, French, Japanese, Spanish
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