Crisis

[krahy-sis] /ˈkraɪ sɪs/

noun, plural crises
[krahy-seez] /ˈkraɪ siz/ (Show IPA)
1.
a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.
2.
a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political, or international affairs, leading to a decisive change.
3.
a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person’s life.
4.
Medicine/Medical.

5.
the point in a play or story at which hostile elements are most tensely opposed to each other.
adjective
6.
of, referring to, or for use in dealing with a crisis.
/ˈkraɪsɪs/
noun (pl) -ses (-siːz)
1.
a crucial stage or turning point in the course of something, esp in a sequence of events or a disease
2.
an unstable period, esp one of extreme trouble or danger in politics, economics, etc
3.
(pathol) a sudden change, for better or worse, in the course of a disease
n.

early 15c., from Latinized form of Greek krisis “turning point in a disease” (used as such by Hippocrates and Galen), literally “judgment, result of a trial, selection,” from krinein “to separate, decide, judge,” from PIE root *krei- “to sieve, discriminate, distinguish” (cf. Greek krinesthai “to explain;” Old English hriddel “sieve;” Latin cribrum “sieve,” crimen “judgment, crime,” cernere (past participle cretus) “to sift, separate;” Old Irish criathar, Old Welsh cruitr “sieve;” Middle Irish crich “border, boundary”). Transferred non-medical sense is 1620s in English. A German term for “mid-life crisis” is Torschlusspanik, literally “shut-door-panic,” fear of being on the wrong side of a closing gate.

crisis cri·sis (krī’sĭs)
n. pl. cri·ses (-sēz)