ABSTRACT
CALAMITY, DISASTER, MISFORTUNE, MISCHANCE, MISHAP. Calamity comes from Latin calamitas, misfortune; its ultimate origin is unknown. Disaster, in French désastre, is compounded of the privative des or dis and astre, in Latin astrum, a star, signifying what comes from the adverse influence of the stars. Misfortune, mischance, and mishap naturally express what comes amiss by fortune or chance.
