Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: calamité, from Latin calamitas

calamity

 noun
     
ca‧lam‧i‧ty plural calamities [countable]
a terrible and unexpected event that causes a lot of damage or suffering [= disaster]:
It will be a calamity for farmers if the crops failed again.
—calamitous adjective
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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