Dictionary.com

catastrophism

[ kuh-tas-truh-fiz-uhm ]
/ kəˈtæs trəˌfɪz əm /
Save This Word!

noun Geology.

the doctrine that certain vast geological changes in the earth's history were caused by catastrophes rather than gradual evolutionary processes.

QUIZZES

THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?

Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.
Question 1 of 8
Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?
The Sunflower State
The Evergreen State
The Magnolia State
The Mockingbird State
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of catastrophism

First recorded in 1865–70; catastrophe + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM catastrophism

ca·tas·tro·phist, noun

Words nearby catastrophism

catastasis, catastrophe, catastrophe theory, catastrophic, catastrophic reaction, catastrophism, catastrophize, catatonia, catatonic, catatonic rigidity, catatonic schizophrenia
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for catastrophism

British Dictionary definitions for catastrophism

catastrophism
/ (kəˈtæstrəˌfɪzəm) /

noun

an old doctrine, now discarded, that the earth was created and has subsequently been shaped by sudden divine acts which have no logical connection with each other rather than by gradual evolutionary processes
Also called: neo-catastrophism a modern doctrine that the gradual evolutionary processes shaping the earth have been supplemented in the past by the effects of huge natural catastrophesCompare uniformitarianism, gradualism (def. 2)

Derived forms of catastrophism

catastrophist, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for catastrophism

catastrophism
[ (kuh-tas-truh-fiz-uhm) ]

A theory holding that changes in the Earth take place swiftly and irreversibly. (Contrast gradualism.)

notes for catastrophism

A belief in Noah's flood is one version of catastrophism.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
See Today's Synonym