Ondergang

Ondergang is a Dutch noun that denotes downfall, demise, or collapse. It can refer to a tangible downward movement, such as the descent of an object, but is more commonly used in a figurative sense to describe the end of a process, the destruction of a system, or the decline of a culture, regime, economy, or social order. The term is also used for the setting of celestial bodies or the daily sun, as in de ondergang van de zon, i.e., sunset.

Etymology and usage notes: the word is formed from onder (“under”) and gang (“going, course”) and is attested in Middle Dutch. It is cognate with the German Untergang, reflecting a shared Germanic root for downward movement or end.

In culture and discourse, ondergang is employed as a motif or label to signal catastrophe, collapse, or major transition. It appears in literature, film, and journalism as a thematic indicator of an end of an era, the fall of a regime, or the decline of a civilization. The term can carry somber or dramatic connotations, but it remains a neutral descriptive term in analytical contexts.

Related forms include ondergaan, a verb meaning to undergo or to perish, while ondergang as a noun denotes the event or process of going downward or ending. The word is widely understood in Dutch, with applicability across historical, political, astronomical, and cultural discussions.