katabasis

[kuh-tab-uh-sis]

noun

plural

katabases 

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