Word Study
peripeteia
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun peripeteia has 1 sense
- peripeteia(n = noun.event) peripetia, peripety - a sudden and unexpected change of fortune or reverse of circumstances (especially in a literary work); "a peripeteia swiftly turns a routine sequence of events into a story worth telling" is a kind of surprise
OXFORD DICTIONARY
peripeteia, n. a sudden change of fortune in a drama or in life.
Etymology
Gk (as PERI-, pet- f. pipto fall)
For further exploring for "peripeteia" in Webster Dictionary Online