peripeteia

[ per-uh-pi-tahy-uh, -tee-uh ]

/ ˌpɛr ə pɪˈtaɪ ə, -ˈti ə /

noun

a sudden turn of events or an unexpected reversal, especially in a literary work.

Nearby words

Also per·i·pe·ti·a, pe·rip·e·ty

[puh-rip-i-tee] /pəˈrɪp ɪ ti/.

Origin of peripeteia

1585–95; < Greek peripéteia sudden change, equivalent to peripet(ḗs) literally, falling round (peri- peri- + pet-, base of píptein to fall) + -eia -y³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for peripety

But Theodore Kremer, who very possibly never heard of peripety, would do exactly the same thing.
Seeing Things at Night|Heywood Broun
In the third act of Othello we have a peripety handled with consummate theatrical skill.
Play-Making|William Archer
When a pupil brings in a play in favor of polygamy, Baker declines to argue but talks instead about peripety.
Pieces of Hate|Heywood Broun
Two parts of the Plot, then, Peripety and Discovery, are on matters of this sort.
The Poetics|Aristotle

Has the conception of the peripety, as an almost obligatory element in drama, any significance for the modern playwright?
Play-Making|William Archer

British Dictionary definitions for peripety

peripeteia

peripetia peripety (pəˈrɪpətɪ)

/ (ˌpɛrɪpɪˈtaɪə, -ˈtɪə) /

noun

(esp in drama) an abrupt turn of events or reversal of circumstances

Derived Formsperipeteian or peripetian, adjective

Word Origin for peripeteia

C16: from Greek, from peri- + piptein to fall (to change suddenly, literally: to fall around)

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

Word Origin and History for peripety

peripeteia

also peripetia, 1590s, from Greek peripeteia "a turn right about; a sudden change" (of fortune, in a tragedy), from peri- "around" (see peri-) + stem of piptein "to fall" (see symptom).