catastrophism
the doctrine that certain vast geological changes in the earth's history were caused by catastrophes rather than gradual evolutionary processes.
Origin of catastrophism
1Other words from catastrophism
- ca·tas·tro·phist, noun
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British Dictionary definitions for catastrophism
/ (kəˈtæstrəˌfɪzəm) /
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 catastrophes: Compare 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
[ (kuh-tas-truh-fiz-uhm) ]
A theory holding that changes in the Earth take place swiftly and irreversibly. (Contrast gradualism.)
Notes for 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.
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