Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or predicting the end of the world, especially as described in the Bible or another religious text.
  • adjective Relating to or predicting widespread destruction or the collapse of civilization.
  • adjective Characterized by predictions of or allusions to a disastrous outcome.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Containing or pertaining to an apocalypse or revelation; specifically, relating to or simulating the book of Revelation in the New Testament.
  • Given to the explanation or application of prophecy.
  • noun Same as apocalyptist.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The writer of the Apocalypse.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to a revelation, or, specifically, to the Revelation of St. John; containing, or of the nature of, a prophetic revelation.
  • adjective pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling an apocalypse, in senses 3 or 4.
  • adjective the number 666, mentioned in Rev. xiii. 18., in which it is described as the number of the “beast of the earth”. It has been variously interpreted. Some fundamentalist Christians consider it to be the number of the Devil, and avoid or fear objects containing that number.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or relating to an apocalypse:
  • adjective Portending a future apocalypse (disaster, devastation, or doom).
  • noun One who predicts apocalypse.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective prophetic of devastation or ultimate doom
  • adjective of or relating to an apocalypse

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἀποκαλυπτικός ("revelatory"), from ἀποκαλύπτειν ("to reveal, uncover"), from ἀπό ("off") + καλύπτειν ("to cover").

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