armageddon

What it means

1. ChristianityMount Megiddo, a hill in modern Israel near the kibbutz of Megiddo, which is the site of a prophesized final battle between the forces of good and evil before the Last Judgment.

   For they are the ſprettes off devyls workynge myracles⸝ to go outt vnto the kynges off the erth and off the whole worlde to gaddre them to the battayle off that grett daye off God allmyghty. […] And he gaddered them togedder into a place called in the hebrue tonge Armagedon.

   1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Revelacion off Sanct Jhon the Devine xvj:[14 and 16], folio cccxxxvj, recto

   1 more example

   For they are the ſpirits of deuils working miracles, which goe forth vnto the Kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battell of that great day of God Almighty. […] And hee gathered them together into a place, called in the Hebrewe tongue, Armageddon.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 16:14 and 16, signature [Aa4], recto, column 1

2. broadlyChristianityThe battle itself.

   And so, unfortunately, this great and spreading network of railways, that recently showed such promise as a major instrument in the modern development of China, must be left for the time being in the melting-pot of Armageddon.

   1941 October, F. S. Bond, “The Railways of China”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 440

   1 more example

   This day will to the Christian world be even more awful and tremendous than the day of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem was to the Jewish nation. As the believing Jews were delivered from that destruction, so shall the true disciples of Christ be saved in the day of Armageddon: […]

   1813, William Cuninghame, “The Fourteenth Chapter of the Apocalypse”, in A Dissertation on the Seals and Trumpets of the Apocalypse, and the Prophetical Period of Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years, London: […] [J. Brettell] for J[ohn] Hatchard, […], →OCLC, page 314

In a sentence

In comparison to [Richard] Nixon-Mao [Zedong], terrorism and armageddon, Anna Nicole Smith [as the subject of Mark-Anthony Turnage's opera Anna Nicole (2011)] may seem lightweight, but it could prove an inspired choice.

2009 February 13, Mark Lawson, “A tabloid Carmen”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2025

Where it comes from

1. Hebrewהַר
2. Hebrewמְגִידּוֹ
3. Hebrewהַר מְגִדּוֹ
4. Ancient GreekἉρμαγεδών (Harmagedṓn)
5. Late LatinHarmagedōn
6. Old EnglishErmagedon
7. Middle EnglishHermagedon
8. EnglishArmageddon

The proper noun is from Middle English Hermagedon, from Old English Ermagedon, from Late Latin Harmagedōn, from Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών (Harmagedṓn), used in the New Testament of the Bible (see the quotations) to render Hebrew הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megído, “Mount Megiddo, the place where the final battle before the Last Judgment is predicted to occur”) from הַר (har, “mountain”) + מְגִידּוֹ (megído, “Megiddo or Meggidon, ancient city of Canaan”). The Bible does not directly refer to Mount Megiddo, but only to a plain (or “valley”) of Megiddo where the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II killed King Josiah of Judah during the Battle of Megiddo in 609 B.C.E. (2 Chronicles 35:20–24; see also 2 Kings 23:29), leading to “great mourning” (Zechariah 12:11). On the other hand, Revelation 19:17–19, which describes an angel calling birds to feed on the flesh of those who have died in the final battle, alludes to Ezekiel 38:17 in which God is described as calling on birds and animals to gather for Gog and Magog’s attack on Israel which will lead to “a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood” (spelling modernized and emphasis added). Armageddon as the mountain of Megiddo appears to be a conflation of these two concepts. The noun is derived from the proper noun.