catastrophism

[ kuh-tas-truh-fiz-uhm ]

/ kəˈtæs trəˌfɪz əm /

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noun Geology.

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

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Origin of catastrophism

First recorded in 1865–70; catastrophe + -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM catastrophism

ca·tas·tro·phist, noun

Words nearby catastrophism

catarrhine, catastasis, catastrophe, catastrophe theory, catastrophic, catastrophism, catastrophize, catatonia, catatonic, catawampus, Catawba

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use catastrophism in a sentence

But to deny catastrophism was to suggest a revolution in current thought.
A History of Science, Volume 3(of 5)|Henry Smith Williams
For the idea of catastrophism had not concerned the destruction of species merely, but their introduction as well.
A History of Science, Volume 3(of 5)|Henry Smith Williams
This view is a complete reconciliation of catastrophism and uniformitarianism, and is far more rational than either extreme.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 56, March 1900|Various
This principle of ‘uniformity’ knocked the old teaching of catastrophism on the head.
Extinct Monsters|H. N. Hutchinson

To my mind there appears to be no sort of necessary theoretical antagonism between Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism.
Aphorisms and Reflections from the Works of T. H. Huxley|T. H. Huxley

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.