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Why has the word “Waterloo” come to mean a final defeat?

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Historical battle map showing troop positions at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, near Brussels, Belgium. Red lines represent Anglo-Dutch infantry and cavalry under Wellington, positioned north of French forces. Blue lines show French infantry and cavalry under Napoleon, with both armies facing each other across a central road. Key locations like Chateau de Goumont (Hougoumont) and Plancenoit are labeled, and an inset map highlights the location within present-day Belgium and Europe. — Battle of Waterloo Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815.

The term "Waterloo" has become synonymous with a final or decisive defeat because it marked the definitive end of Napoleon I’s extraordinary military career.12

Fought on June 18, 1815, the Battle of Waterloo concluded 23 years of recurrent conflict between France and other European powers. The significance of the defeat was amplified by the context of the Hundred Days, a period during which Napoleon had already been defeated and exiled once, only to escape and return to power for three months before his ultimate loss to the forces led by the Duke of Wellington and the Prussians.12

Because this battle served as the absolute conclusion to his restoration and his long-standing struggle against the rest of Europe, the word entered common usage as a metaphor for a final, inescapable setback as early as 1816.1