katabasis

noun

ka·​tab·​a·​sis

variants or catabasis

kəˈtabəsə̇s

plural katabases or catabases

-bəˌsēz

1

: a going or marching down or back : retreat

especially : a military retreat

the Russian anabasis and katabasis of Napoleon

—Thomas De Quincey

the tragic and precipitate katabasis of the UN troops

—H. L. Ickes

2

: a troparion sung after the two sides of the choir descend to the middle of the church at the end of each ode of the canon at matins in the Eastern Orthodox Church

Word History

Etymology

Greek katabasis descent, from katabainein to go down, from kata- cata- + bainein to go

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