Götterdämmerung

American  

[got-er-dam-uh-roong, -ruhng, gœt-uhr-dem-uh-roong] / ˌgɒt ərˈdæm əˌrʊŋ, -ˌrʌŋ, ˌgœt ərˈdɛm əˌrʊŋ /

noun

1. German Mythology. the destruction of the gods and of all things in a final battle with evil powers: erroneous modern translation of the Old Icelandic Ragnarǫk, meaning “fate of the gods,” misunderstood as Ragnarökkr, meaning “twilight of the gods.”

2. (italics) See The Ring of the Nibelung.

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Götterdämmerung British  

/ ɡœtərˈdɛmərʊŋ, ˌɡɒtəˈdɛməˌrʊŋ /

noun

1. Norse equivalent: Ragnarök.  German myth the twilight of the gods; their ultimate destruction in a battle with the forces of evil

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Etymology

Origin of Götterdämmerung

1875–80; < German, equivalent to Götter, plural of Gott God + Dämmerung twilight

Example Sentences

Most operagoers before a recent matinee of Richard Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung” were looking forward to escaping the madness of a global sporting spectacle for the next 5½ hours.

From The Wall Street Journal

As Johannes Karl Fischer, an opera critic for the German classical music blog Klassik Begeistert, observed in his review of Götterdämmerung: “The audience at La Scala remained completely unfazed by this media attention on their city and judged their sacred art with their usual euphoria.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“Götterdämmerung” is the fourth and final installment of Wagner’s Ring cycle—a Norse saga about a cursed ring that grants power but delivers ruin.

From The Wall Street Journal

Before the curtain rose on “Götterdämmerung,” he scrolled his phone in search of tickets for figure skating.

From The Wall Street Journal

The classic piece is called “Götterdämmerung”—the unmistakably German word for “twilight of the gods.”

From The Wall Street Journal