/keuh lam"i tee/ , n. , pl. calamities .
1. a great misfortune or disaster, as a flood or serious injury.
2. grievous affliction; adversity; misery: the calamity of war.
[ 1375-1425; late ME calamite calamitat- (s. of calamitas ), perh. akin to incolumitas safety ]
Syn. 1. reverse, blow, catastrophe, cataclysm; mischance, mishap. See disaster .