katabasis

[ kuh-tab-uh-sis ]
/ kəˈtæb ə sɪs /

noun, plural ka·tab·a·ses [kuh-tab-uh-seez] /kəˈtæb əˌsiz/.

a march from the interior of a country to the coast, as that of the 10,000 Greeks after their defeat and the death of Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa.
a retreat, especially a military retreat.
Compare anabasis.

Origin of katabasis

1830–40; < Greek katábasis a going down, descent, equivalent to kataba- (stem of katabaínein to go down) + -sis -sis. See kata-, basis

Words nearby katabasis

kasugai, kasyapa, kat, kata, kata-, katabasis, katabatic, katabolism, katahdin, katakana, katal

British Dictionary definitions for katabasis

katabasis
/ (kəˈtæbəsɪs) /

noun plural -ses (-ˌsiːz)

the retreat of the Greek mercenaries of Cyrus the Younger, after his death at Cunaxa, from the Euphrates to the Black Sea in 401–400 bc under the leadership of Xenophon: recounted in his Anabasis Compare anabasis
literary a retreat

Word Origin for katabasis

C19: from Greek: a going down, from katabainein to go down