APOCALYPSE

PRONUNCIATION: (uh-POK-uh-lips)

MEANING: noun:
1. The destruction of the world.
2. Any widespread destruction or disaster.
3. A massive, decisive conflict.
4. A prophecy.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin apocalypsis (revelation), from Greek apokalypsis (revelation), from apo- (un-) + kalyptein (to cover). Earliest documented use: 1384.
______________________

CAPOCALYPSE - a catastrophic civil war within the Mafia

APICALYPSE - the peak of a closed ovoid curve; a portmanteau of apex + ellipse

AVOCALYPSE - the mouth of one who has just been rendered speechless