What is the Latin word for disaster?

The usual Latin words for “disaster” are incommodus, malus, advertō; also īnfestus, calamitās, clādēs. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“disaster” in Latin

incommodusinconvenient, unsuitable, unfit, unseasonable; troublesome, disagreeable malusunpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad; unpleasant to the senses, sight, smell, taste, touch; bad, evil, wicked, m advertōto turn to or towards; to steer or pilot (a ship); to turn the mind to, give attention or draw attention to, attend īnfestushostile (to a person, cause etc.), antagonistic; aggressive, warlike; raised, threatening, poised to strike; harmful, tr calamitāsloss, damage, harm; misfortune, calamity, disaster; military defeat clādēsa breaking; destruction, disaster; defeat

The English word disaster itself goes back to Latin astrum.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

disaster

incommodum (unpleasant, inconvenient occurrence; often as euphemistic term for a defeat): malum: res mala or adversa (evil): casus adversus or infestus (mischance, mishap): adversa fortuna (adverse occurrence): calamitas (misery occasioned by great damage or loss; also by war): clades (disastrous occurrence; especially of disastrous military occurrence). A great disaster (i. e., disastrous defeat), magna clades atque calamitas: to cause a great disaster, cladem inferre; magnam cladem facere (Sall.): to bring a great disaster upon a state, etc., magnam alicui (e.g., populo Romano) cladem afferre: to meet with a disaster, cladem accipere: a great disaster, (maximam) calamitatem capere or accipere: disasters (= mishaps, mischances), incommoda, plur.; res adversae or incommodae: to meet with disasters, in res adversas incidere: to meet with nothing but disasters, multum malarum rerum sustinere; omnia mala aliquem consectantur: to bear disasters, mala ferre or perpeti: calamitates perferre (Caes.), tolerare (Cic.), ferre (Nep.); to save anybody from a disaster, calamitate prohibere aliquem: disheartened by these disasters, his proeliis calamitatibusque fractus.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for disaster?: The usual Latin words for “disaster” are incommodus, malus, advertō; also īnfestus, calamitās, clādēs. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.