Word.ws English Dictionary

catastasis

/kəˈtæstəsɪs/

catastasis noun: in classical drama, the second and penultimate section, in which action is heightened for the catastrophe.

Noun

catastasis (countable and uncountable, plural catastases)

  1. In classical drama, the second and penultimate section, in which action is heightened for the catastrophe.
    • It doubles itself in the middle of his life, reflects itself in another, repeats itself, protasis, epitasis, catastasis, catastrophe.1922, James Joyce, Ulysses
    • The object of the meta-theatre is precisely that – to allow the participants to see through their first roles in it. But that is only the catastasis.1965, John Fowles, The Magus
  2. (rhetoric) The part of a speech that states the subject to be discussed.

Forms of catastasis

pluralcatastases

Origin of catastasis

From Ancient Greek κατάστασις (katástasis, “settling, appointment”).

Words formed from catastasis

Questions about catastasis

What does catastasis mean?
Catastasis means in classical drama, the second and penultimate section, in which action is heightened for the catastrophe.
What part of speech is catastasis?
Catastasis is a noun.
How do you pronounce catastasis?
Catastasis is pronounced /kəˈtæstəsɪs/.
What is the plural of catastasis?
The plural of catastasis is catastases.

Words near catastasis in the dictionary

  1. catasta
  2. catastae
  3. catastalsis
  4. catastaltic
  5. catastases
  6. catastasis
  7. catastate
  8. catastates
  9. catastatic
  10. catastematic
  11. catasterise

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catastasis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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