katabasis

[ kuh-tab-uh-sis ]

noun

, plural ka·tab·a·ses [k, uh, -, tab, -, uh, -seez].

1. a march from the interior of a country to the coast, as that of the 10,000 Greeks after their defeat and the death of Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa.
2. a retreat, especially a military retreat.

katabasis

/ kəˈtæbəsɪs /

noun

1. the retreat of the Greek mercenaries of Cyrus the Younger, after his death at Cunaxa, from the Euphrates to the Black Sea in 401–400 bc under the leadership of Xenophon: recounted in his Anabasis Compare anabasis
2. literary.
   a retreat

Word History and Origins

Origin of katabasis¹

1830–40; < Greek katábasis a going down, descent, equivalent to kataba- (stem of katabaínein to go down) + -sis -sis. See kata-, basis

Word History and Origins

Origin of katabasis¹

C19: from Greek: a going down, from katabainein to go down