catastrophism
noun
catastrophism is spelled C-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-P-H-I-S-M: 13 letters. It appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, catastrophism means “The doctrine that sudden catastrophes, rather than continuous change, cause the main features of the Earth's crust” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of catastrophism is catastrophisms.
How many letters and syllables are in catastrophism?
| Letters | 13: C-A-T-A-S-T-R-O-P-H-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 46 million words; the 209,386th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is catastrophism?
Catastrophism appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of catastrophism
- catastrophisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does catastrophism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The doctrine that sudden catastrophes, rather than continuous change, cause the main features of the Earth's crust.
- 2
The doctrine that, in addition to the more gradual effects of evolution, huge catastrophic events shape the earth's flora and fauna by causing major die-offs which make way for the emergence of new organisms.
- 3
The practice or tendency of catastrophizing, regarding bad things as catastrophic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does catastrophism come from?
From catastrophe + -ism, coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1837.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).