a. [ad. Gr. καταστροφικ-ός, f. καταστροφή CATASTROPHE.] Of the nature of, or belonging to, a catastrophe: esp. in the history of the earth or the universe.
1837. Whewell, Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857), III. 512. The supposed proofs of catastrophic transition.
1849. Murchison, Siluria, xx. 491. A catastrophic destruction of such animals.
1871. E. H. Plumptre, Spirits in Pris. (1884), 348. Events which are not continuous, but catastrophic … such as the Resurrection and the Last Judgment.
