Collapse
/kəˈlæps/noun
To fall down or give way suddenly; to fail or break down abruptly.
Did you know?Collapse comes from Latin *collāpsus*, the past participle of *collābi*, literally “to slip/fall together,” built from *com-* “together” + *lābi* “to glide, slip, fall,” so the word itself encodes a sudden, inward collapse.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
collābi
“to slip or fall together”
Latin
Latin
collāpsus
“having slipped down; fallen in”
Late Latin
Latin
collapsus
“collapsed, fallen together”
14th Century
English
collapse
“to fall together or cave in suddenly”
Modern English
English
collapse
“to fall down or fail abruptly”