From Italian 'cascata' (a fall), from Latin 'cadere' (to fall) — a waterfall in stages, extended to any chain reaction.
A small waterfall, typically one of several falling in stages down a steep rocky slope. A process whereby something, typically information or knowledge, is successively passed on; a succession of stages or operations.
From French 'cascade' (waterfall), from Italian 'cascata' (a fall, a waterfall), from 'cascare' (to fall), from Vulgar Latin '*casicare' (to fall repeatedly), a frequentative formed on Latin 'cāsus' (a fall, an accident, a case), the past participle of 'cadere' (to fall, to drop), from PIE *ḱad- (to fall). The PIE root *ḱad- produced Latin 'cadere' (fall), 'cadens' (falling), and the English borrowings 'cadence' (the fall of the voice), 'decadent' (falling away from virtue), 'accident' (falling upon), 'incident,' and 'coincidence.' Italian cascata supplied the specific image of falling water
The 'CSS' in web development stands for 'Cascading Style Sheets.' The 'cascade' refers to the algorithm that determines which style rules apply when multiple rules target the same element — rules flow down through levels of specificity like water through a cascade of pools. Every website you visit is styled by a 'cascade' in the original Latin sense: a succession of falls, each flowing into the next, from a word meaning 'to fall.'