Meaning

noun a small waterfall or series of small waterfalls

noun a succession of stages or operations or processes or units

noun a sudden downpour (as of tears or sparks etc) likened to a rain shower

originFrom French cascade, from Italian cascata, from cascare (“to fall”), from Vulgar Latin *cāsicāre, derived from Latin cadere, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0