giant
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈd͡ʒaɪ.ənt/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒaɪnt/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒʌɪ.ənt/
ipa: /ˈd͡ʒaɪ.ənt/
ipa: [ˈd͡ʒəɪ̯(ə)nt]
rhymes: -aɪənt
Forms: form: giants
form: giaunt
Etymology: From Middle English geaunt, geant, from Old French geant, gaiant (Modern French géant) from Vulgar Latin *gagās, gagant-, from Latin gigās, gigant-, from Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”) Cognate to giga- (“1,000,000,000”). Displaced native Old English ent. Compare Modern English ent (“giant tree-man”).
Senses: glosses: A mythical human of very great size.
topics: fantasy
human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
philosophy
sciences
glosses: Specifically:
Any of the gigantes, the race of giants in the Greek mythology.
examples: text: The giants also had been outlawed along with Satan because they had fought against god.
ref: 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 21:
topics: fantasy
human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
philosophy
sciences
glosses: Specifically:
An eoten or jotun.
examples: text: "It's barbarous, Norsus." "It's Rome," said the giant flatly.
ref: 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 65:
glosses: A very tall and large person.
glosses: A tall species of a particular animal or plant.
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: A star that is considerably more luminous than a main sequence star of the same temperature (e.g. red giant, blue giant).
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: An Ethernet packet that exceeds the medium's maximum packet size of 1,518 bytes.
examples: text: The retail giant is set to acquire two more struggling high-street chains.
text: Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson says it will continue to sell its talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder in the UK and the rest of the world, despite stopping sales in the US and Canada.
ref: 2020 May 20, “J&J to sell baby powder in UK despite stopping US sales”, in BBC, London: BBC, retrieved 22 May 2020:
glosses: A very large organization.
examples: text: But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…].
ref: 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
text: she's not the intellectual giant
ref: 1988, Thomas Dolby, Airhead:
glosses: A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual.
topics: gymnastics
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A maneuver involving a full rotation around an axis while fully extended.
Synonyms: word: bulk
word: giant
word: behemoth
word: Brobdingnagian
word: colossus
word: ettin
word: Goliath
word: hulk
word: hunk
word: jumbo
word: leviathan
word: mammoth
word: mastodon
word: monster
word: mountain
word: thurse
word: titan
word: whale
word: whopper
Derived terms: Aphrodite Giant
bright giant
Easter giant
friendly giant
frost giant
gas giant
gentle giant
giantdom
giantesque
gianthood
giantin
giantish
giantize
giantkiller
giant-killer
giant-killing
giantkind
giantlike
giantling
giantlore
giantry
Giant's Causeway
giantship
girus
hypergiant
ice giant
Jersey Giant
subgiant
supergiant
tech giant
Trembling Giant
Related terms: word: big