cataclysmic

　次々に新開発を果たすTOYOTAですがどこまで変化を求めるのでしょうか。

NAGOYA (Jiji Press)— Toyota Motor Corp. sees the need to revive its founding spirit in an era of intense competition amid cataclysmic changes the automobile industry is going through.
Leaving its post-World War II crisis far behind, Toyota, which marked the 80th anniversary of its foundation on Monday, has grown into one of the world’s leading automakers, with annual new vehicle sales of over 10 million units.
But its future is not guaranteed. As the industry faces a shift away from gasoline to electric vehicles and challenges from ride-sharing services, competition is heating up, throwing the company into what President Akio Toyoda has described as “uncharted territory.”

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003914491

　取り上げるのは”cataclysmic” /kæ̀təklɪ́zmɪk/です。”cata-“は接頭辞で「下に向かって、反して」などの意味があります。『ジーニアス英和辞典』で調べたところ、形容詞で「激変的な、大変異の、非常に悪い［ひどい］」とありました。また、名詞”cataclysm”では「大洪水；地殻の激変、地震、（政治的・社会的）大変動、戦争」という意味があります。LDOCEでは、”cataclysm”で”a violet or sudden event or change, such as a serious flood or earthquake”と定義されていました。