Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Calamity

Calamity , noun

[Latin calamitas, akin to in-columis unharmed: compare French calamité]

1.
Any great misfortune or cause of misery; -- generally applied to events or disasters which produce extensive evil, either to communities or individuals.
Strokes of calamity that scathe and scorch the soul. — W. Irving

The word calamity was first derived from calamus when the corn could not get out of the stalk.

2.
A state or time of distress or misfortune; misery.
The deliberations of calamity are rarely wise. — Burke
Where'er I came I brought calamity. — Tennyson