# apocalypse

> English word · Noun · IPA /əˈpɒkəlɪps/ · frequency rank #10,982

## Definitions
1. A revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
2. A huge disaster; a cataclysmic event; destruction or ruin of large scope and scale.
3. The unveiling of events prophesied in the Revelation; the second coming and the end of life on Earth; global destruction.
4. The Book of Revelation.

## Etymology
From Middle English apocalips, from Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis, “revelation”, literally “uncovering”), from ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō, “to reveal”), from ἀπό (apó, “back, away from”) + καλύπτω (kalúptō, “I cover”), + -σις (-sis, suffix forming nouns). The sense evolution to "catastrophe, end of the world" stems from the depiction of such events in the biblical Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse of (i.e. Revelation to) John.
The verb is from the noun and, in sense 1, a semantic loan from the etymonic Ancient Greek verb ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō, “to reveal”).

## Common misspellings (15)
`aopcalypse`, `apcoalypse`, `apoaclypse`, `apocallypse`, `apocalpyse`, `apocalypes`, `apocalyppse`, `apocalypsse`, `apocalyspe`, `apocalyypse`, `apocaylpse`, `apoccalypse`, `apoclaypse`, `appocalypse`, `paocalypse`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/apocalypse