crisis
/ˈkɹaɪsɪs/ noun
Forms crises
- noun A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
- noun An unstable situation, in political, social, economic or military affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change.
- noun (medicine) A sudden change in the course of a disease, usually at which point the patient is expected to either recover or die.
- noun (psychology) A traumatic or stressful change in a person's life. “I'm having a major crisis trying to wallpaper the living room.”
- noun (drama) A point in a drama at which a conflict reaches a peak before being resolved.
- noun (euphemistic) Orgasm
Etymology
From Latin crisis, from Ancient Greek κρίσις (krísis, “a separating, power of distinguishing, decision, choice, election, judgment, dispute”), from κρίνω (krínō, “pick out, choose, decide, judge”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The point of time when it is to be decided whether any affair or course of action must go on, or be modified or terminate; the decisive moment; the turning point.
- noun That change in a disease which indicates whether the result is to be recovery or death; sometimes, also, a striking change of symptoms attended by an outward manifestation, as by an eruption or sweat.
Etymology [L. crisis, Gr. Certain.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “crisis”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details