eschatology

From Ancient Greek ἔσχατον (éskhaton) (neuter of ἔσχατος (éskhatos, “last”)) +‎ -logy.

• Hyphenation: es‧cha‧to‧lo‧gy
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɛsk.əˈtɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɛs.kəˈtɔl.ə.d͡ʒi/

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eschatology (countable and uncountable, plural eschatologies)

1. (countable) A system of doctrines concerning final matters, such as death.
   • 1969 May 4, Alfred Appel Jr, “Ada; Or Ardor: A Family Chronicle”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     These final pages are as deeply pleasureful as they are moving. Their comic eschatologies are consistent with the spirit that informs all of “Ada,” the spirit that is underscored by the last syllable in Ada's name when it is pronounced correctly in “the Russian way with two deep, dark ‘a’s” — da!

2. (uncountable) The study of the end times—the end of the world, notably in Christian and Islamic theology, the second coming of Christ, the Apocalypse, or the Last Judgment.

• eschaton