Skip to content

"disaster" in seven languages

Meaningdisaster

Spanish

desastre

/deˈsastɾe/

masc.borrowed · Old Occitan desastre

French

désastre

/dezastʁ/

masc.borrowed · Italian disastro

Italian

disastro

/diˈzastro/

masc.learned

Built on learned astro 'star' (or taken from Old Occitan; sources differ).

Portuguese

desastre

/deˈzastɾi/

masc.borrowed · Spanish desastre or Italian disastro

Romanian

dezastru

/deˈzastru/

neut.borrowed · French désastre, Italian disastro

Catalan

desastre

/dəˈzastɾə/

masc.borrowed · Occitan desastre or Italian disastro

English

disaster

/dɪˈzæstɚ/

from Latin/French · French désastre (from Italian disastro)

English → ItaliandisasterdisastroCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

dis- + ASTRUM‘ill-starred (ASTRUM 'star')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

An astrologer's word: a disaster is an event under a bad star, Latin ASTRUM with the negative dis-. It spread from Italy and southern France in the Renaissance.

English relatives: astral, astronomy, asterisk

Learn it

Practice the Ideas deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esLa fiesta fue un desastre total.
  • frLa fête a été un vrai désastre.
  • itLa festa è stata un disastro totale.
  • ptA festa foi um desastre total.
  • roPetrecerea a fost un dezastru total.
  • caLa festa va ser un desastre total.
  • enThe party was a total disaster.

More in Ideas

All Ideas words