calamity
noun /kəˈlæməti/
/kəˈlæməti/
[countable, uncountable] (plural calamities)
- an event that causes great damage to people’s lives, property, etc.
灾难；灾祸 - The country suffered a series of calamities during the 1980s.
该国在20世纪80年代遭受了一系列灾难。 - His financial help saved the magazine from total calamity.
他的资金援助将那本杂志从彻底的危难中拯救出来。
词源late Middle English (in the sense ‘disaster,’ and‘ distress’): from Old French calamite, from Latin calamitas. - The country suffered a series of calamities during the 1980s.