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DictionaryRoot: apo-
Greek

apo-

away, off, from

Forms

  • apo-
  • ap- — Used before a vowel without an initial h sound in Greek.
  • aph- — Used before a vowel that began with an h sound in Greek.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *apo, ‘off; away.’

Note

Separation can identify either a departure or the source something comes from.

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noun

apocalypse

uh-PAH-kuh-lips/əˈpɑːkəlɪps/

A catastrophe that destroys a world or causes a society to collapse.

The city lies shattered after the apocalypse.

Compact editorial vignette of widespread catastrophic destruction: three broken city buildings with collapsed bridges and enormous incoming wave behind them, debris minimal, no bodies.
Etymology
apoGreekaway, off, from
+calypseGreekto cover or conceal

Taking a covering away gives the original sense, “revelation.” Through interpretations of the biblical Revelation as describing the world's violent end, the word came to mean a catastrophic event.

In context

CrashCourse6:37
a massive pandemic kills off half the world, or there's a zombie apocalypse, after an initial spike, those healthcare costs are gonna fall.
Deficits & Debts: Crash Course Economics #9

More examples

  • The novel imagined a global apocalypse.
  • Its survivors rebuilt after the apocalypse.
  • Several films portrayed different apocalypses.

Forms

apocalypse · apocalypses

Similar words

catastrophe
Need not destroy an entire society or world.
disaster
Covers severe harm on a smaller scale too.