ˌperəpəˈtē(y)ə, -tīə noun
also peri·pe·tia -tīə
( -s )
Etymology: Greek peripeteia, from (assumed) Greek peripetos (verbal of Greek peripiptein to fall around, fall into, change suddenly, from peri- + piptein to fall) + Greek -eia -y — more at feather
: a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances or situation in a literary work
a thrilling nick-of-time peripeteia — F.R.Leavis
also : a similar change in actual affairs
participating in the major intellectual peripeteia of the past eighty years — Hugh Kenner