apocatastasis means restoration, renovation, reestablishment; An apocalypse leading to the remaking of the world rather than a Final Judgment, (Christianity) an Origenist doctrine condemned by the 543 C.E. Synod of Constantinople. It carries an Arena rating of 1409, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, apocatastasis ranks #25 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #402 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #503 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #539 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
Why “apocatastasis” is a great word
A universal restoration to a primordial, perfected, or original state, particularly the theological doctrine of the ultimate reconciliation of all creation. From the Latin apocatastasis, a learned borrowing from the Ancient Greek ἀποκατάστασις (apokatástasis, 'restoration'), from ἀποκαθίστημι (apokathístēmi, 'to set up again, restore'), from ἀπό- (apó-, 'back again') + καθίστημι (kathístēmi, 'to set, place, constitute'), from κατά- (katá-, 'down') + ἵστημι (hístēmi, 'to stand, set'). Unlike "apocalypse" (which prophesies cataclysmic ending) or "damnation" (which consigns to eternal separation), apocatastasis is the heretical hope that nothing is finally lost. It is the shattered vase reconstituted without a seam, the bent willow returning to true vertical, and the long-disordered melody resolving into the chord from which it first strayed—a quiet insistence that every broken thing remembers, in its pieces, the shape of home, and that all things, in the end, shall stand again as they were meant to stand.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin apocatastasis, itself from Ancient Greek ἀποκατάστασις (apokatástasis, “restoration, reëstablishment”), from ἀποκαθίστημι (apokathístēmi, “to stand up again”), from ἀπό- (apó-, “back again”) + καθίστημι (kathístēmi, “to set, place, constitute, appoint”), from κατά- (katá-, “down, for”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to set, stand, establish”).
noun
- Restoration, renovation, reestablishment; An apocalypse leading to the remaking of the world rather than a Final Judgment, (Christianity) an Origenist doctrine condemned by the 543 C.E. Synod of Constantinople.
- Restoration, renovation, reestablishment; The doctrine that all souls will enter heaven or paradise, (Christianity) an Origenist doctrine condemned by the 543 C.E. Synod of Constantinople.e.g.“No doctrine...contradicts the Holy Scripture in a more unwarrantable manner than that of the so-called Apokatastasis.” — 1867, R.E. Wallis translating F.J. Delitzsch, A system of Biblical psychology, VII 552
- Restoration, renovation, reestablishment; Return to an earlier condition.e.g.“We read of Apocatastasis or urine...of tumours, and other diseases.” — 1753, A supplement to Mr. Chambers's Cyclopædia:
- Restoration, renovation, reestablishment; Return to the same apparent position, as after a revolution.e.g.“The accurate apocatastasis (i.e. regression to the same sign) of the moon, and in a similar manner of the sun.” — 1822, Apuleius, translated by Thomas Taylor, Metamorphosis, or Golden Ass, I 33:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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