1630s, from French cataclysme (16c.), from Latin cataclysmos or directly from Greek kataklysmos "deluge, flood, inundation," from kataklyzein "to deluge," from kata "down" (see cata-) + klyzein "to wash," from PIE *kleue- "to wash, clean" (see cloaca).
权威例句
1. The extinct volcano's eruption would mean a cataclysm for the city.
死火山又重新喷发,对这座城市来说意味着大难临头.
2. The floods were a cataclysm from which the local people never recovered.
经历了这场特大洪水,当地人民元气大伤,很难恢复.
3. The cataclysm flooded the entire valley.
洪水淹没了整个山谷.
4. No cataclysm has desolated the whole world.
没有任何激变曾使整个世界变成荒芜.
5. You've been in love, and it hasn't meant such a cataclysm, hasn't proved the great affair.