Dictionary

Armageddon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˌɑːməˈɡɛdn̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [-ˈɡɛɾʔn] (General-American)
• /ˌɑɹməˈɡɛd(ə)n/ (General-American)
• [-ʔn] (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The proper noun is from Middle English Hermagedon, from Old English Ermagedon, from Late Latin Harmagedōn, from Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών (Harmagedṓn), used in the New Testament of the Bible (see the quotations) to render Hebrew הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megído, “Mount Megiddo, the place where the final battle before the Last Judgment is predicted to occur”) from הַר (har, “mountain”) + מְגִידּוֹ (megído, “Megiddo or Meggidon, ancient city of Canaan”). The Bible does not directly refer to Mount Megiddo, but only to a plain (or “valley”) of Megiddo where the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II killed King Josiah of Judah during the Battle of Megiddo in 609 B.C.E. (2 Chronicles 35:20–24; see also 2 Kings 23:29), leading to “great mourning” (Zechariah 12:11). On the other hand, Revelation 19:17–19, which describes an angel calling birds to feed on the flesh of those who have died in the final battle, alludes to Ezekiel 38:17 in which God is described as calling on birds and animals to gather for Gog and Magog’s attack on Israel which will lead to “a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood” (spelling modernized and emphasis added). Armageddon as the mountain of Megiddo appears to be a conflation of these two concepts. The noun is derived from the proper noun.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A catastrophic or great conflict, especially one regarded as likely to destroy the human race or the world; (loosely) the end of the world.
   • Some say the end is near / Some say we'll see Armageddon soon / I certainly hope we will / I sure could use a vacation from this […] 1996 September 17, Maynard James Keenan, Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor, “Ænema”, in Ænima, performed by Tool, New York, N.Y.: Zoo Entertainment, →OCLC:
   • In comparison to [Richard] Nixon-Mao [Zedong], terrorism and armageddon, Anna Nicole Smith [as the subject of Mark-Anthony Turnage's opera Anna Nicole (2011)] may seem lightweight, but it could prove an inspired choice. 2009 February 13, Mark Lawson, “A tabloid Carmen”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2025:
   • [T]he bomb did exist; it existed in our subconscious, our nightmares about what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the actual nuclear Armageddons. We'd perhaps seen grainy news pictures of the two ruined cities, fields of ashes and human dots, but little else. 2012, Richard Lingeman, “Epilogue: Why Korea? Why Nagasaki? Confessions of a Cold Warrior (II)”, in The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War, New York, N.Y.: Nation Books, →ISBN, page 371:
   • I shall know that your good is mine: ye shall feel that my strength is yours: / In that day of Armageddon, at the last great fight of all, / That Our Home stand together and the pillars do not fall. 1896, Rudyard Kipling, “[The Seven Seas.] England’s Answer.”, in The Seven Seas, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 16:
2. (attributive, broadly, countable, often, uncountable) A type of chess game, usually played when a match would otherwise end in a draw, where black wins drawn games and white is given more time as compensation.
   • [Michael] Crichton has just been too shrewd to cast his lot with the boys who play Armageddon chess [referring to military thinktanks]. He's realized that the work for which they pay mere thousands can be sold to the public for millions. 1971 April 30, “The Screen: Germ of an Idea [review of The Andromeda Strain (1971)]”, in James O’Gara, editor, Commonweal: A Weekly Review of Public Affairs, Literature and the Arts, volume XCIV, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Commonweal Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 190:
   • Now came sudden death. Armageddon chess: and for one the sobriquet didn't seem inappropriate. […] In Armageddon chess, White had five minutes to make all his moves and Black only four: but White has to win, because a draw is counted as a Black victory. 2012, Daniel Blake, chapter 5, in White Death, London: Harper, HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN, page 28:

Forms

Deriveds

spermageddon · Snowmageddon · snowmageddon · insectageddon · hairmageddon · Pharmageddon · Spermageddon · cicada-geddon · -ageddon · -mageddon · Carmageddon

Synonyms

Apocalypse · doomsday

Translations (7)

fi maailmanlopun taistelu (catastrophic or great conflict, especially one regarded as likely to destroy the human race or the world) · pt armagedão (catastrophic or great conflict, especially one regarded as likely to destroy the human race or the world) · es armagedón (catastrophic or great conflict, especially one regarded as likely to destroy the human race or the world) · it armageddon (catastrophic or great conflict, especially one regarded as likely to destroy the human race or the world) · fi armageddon (type of chess game, usually played when a match would otherwise end in a draw) · gl armagedón (catastrophic or great conflict, especially one regarded as likely to destroy the human race or the world) · pt armagedom (catastrophic or great conflict, especially one regarded as likely to destroy the human race or the world)

wikipedia: Gog and Magog · wikipedia: New International Version · wikipedia: Last Judgment · wikipedia: Book of Revelation · wikipedia: Josiah · wikipedia: nuclear holocaust · wikipedia: Castle Romeo · wikipedia: Jesus · wikipedia: Necho II · wikipedia: J. Paul Getty Museum

Armageddon en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˌɑːməˈɡɛdn̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [-ˈɡɛɾʔn] (General-American)
• /ˌɑɹməˈɡɛd(ə)n/ (General-American)
• [-ʔn] (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The proper noun is from Middle English Hermagedon, from Old English Ermagedon, from Late Latin Harmagedōn, from Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών (Harmagedṓn), used in the New Testament of the Bible (see the quotations) to render Hebrew הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megído, “Mount Megiddo, the place where the final battle before the Last Judgment is predicted to occur”) from הַר (har, “mountain”) + מְגִידּוֹ (megído, “Megiddo or Meggidon, ancient city of Canaan”). The Bible does not directly refer to Mount Megiddo, but only to a plain (or “valley”) of Megiddo where the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II killed King Josiah of Judah during the Battle of Megiddo in 609 B.C.E. (2 Chronicles 35:20–24; see also 2 Kings 23:29), leading to “great mourning” (Zechariah 12:11). On the other hand, Revelation 19:17–19, which describes an angel calling birds to feed on the flesh of those who have died in the final battle, alludes to Ezekiel 38:17 in which God is described as calling on birds and animals to gather for Gog and Magog’s attack on Israel which will lead to “a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood” (spelling modernized and emphasis added). Armageddon as the mountain of Megiddo appears to be a conflation of these two concepts. The noun is derived from the proper noun.

Meanings

1. Mount Megiddo, a hill in modern Israel near the kibbutz of Megiddo, which is the site of a prophesized final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment.
   • For they are the ſprettes off devyls workynge myracles⸝ to go outt vnto the kynges off the erth and off the whole worlde to gaddre them to the battayle off that grett daye off God allmyghty. […] And he gaddered them togedder into a place called in the hebrue tonge Armagedon. 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Revelacion off Sanct Jhon the Devine xvj:[14 and 16], folio cccxxxvj, recto:
   • For they are the ſpirits of deuils working miracles, which goe forth vnto the Kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battell of that great day of God Almighty. […] And hee gathered them together into a place, called in the Hebrewe tongue, Armageddon. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 16:14 and 16, signature [Aa4], recto, column 1:
2. (broadly) The battle itself.
   • This day will to the Christian world be even more awful and tremendous than the day of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem was to the Jewish nation. As the believing Jews were delivered from that destruction, so shall the true disciples of Christ be saved in the day of Armageddon: […] 1813, William Cuninghame, “The Fourteenth Chapter of the Apocalypse”, in A Dissertation on the Seals and Trumpets of the Apocalypse, and the Prophetical Period of Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years, London: […] [J. Brettell] for J[ohn] Hatchard, […], →OCLC, page 314:
   • And so, unfortunately, this great and spreading network of railways, that recently showed such promise as a major instrument in the modern development of China, must be left for the time being in the melting-pot of Armageddon. 1941 October, F. S. Bond, “The Railways of China”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 440:

Deriveds

Armageddonism · Armageddonist

Relateds

judgement day · end times · Ragnarok · Great Assize · eschatology · judgment day · final reckoning · Last Judgement · day of reckoning · Last Judgment · Final Judgment

Translations (44)

it Armageddon (the battle itself) · ga Harmagadón (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · is Harmagedón (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ml അർമ്മഗദോൻ (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · pt Armagedão (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · cmn 哈米吉多頓 /哈米吉多顿 (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · sv harmageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ca Harmagedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · grc Ἁρμαγεδών (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · tr Armageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · el Αρμαγεδδώνας (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ru Армагеддо́н (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · da Armageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ko 아마겟돈 (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · cmn 阿瑪革冬 /阿玛革冬 (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · uk Армагеддо́н (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · hi हरमगिदोन (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · la Harmagedōn (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · es Armagedón (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · gd Armagedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · uk Армаґеддо́н (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ar أَرْمَجِدُون (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · pl Armagedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ar أَرْمَجِدُون (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ar هَرْمَجَدُّون (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · fa آرماگدون (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ja ハルマゲドン (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · de Harmagedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · cy Armagedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · fr Armageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · he הַר מְגִדּוֹ (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · fur Armageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · it Armageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · kmr Harmegedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ja アルマゲドン (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · pt Armagedom (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · sv Harmagedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · fi Harmageddonin taistelu (the battle itself) · id Harmagedon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · ga báire na fola (the battle itself) · ko 하르마게돈 (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · gl Armagedón (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · nb Harmageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment) · fi Harmageddon (Mount Megiddo, site of a prophezied final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment)

wikipedia: Gog and Magog · wikipedia: New International Version · wikipedia: Last Judgment · wikipedia: Book of Revelation · wikipedia: Josiah · wikipedia: Jesus · wikipedia: Necho II · wikipedia: J. Paul Getty Museum