giant
See also: Giant
English
Alternative forms
- giaunt (obsolete)
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 Middle English eten, ettin (from Old English ēoten), and Middle English eont (from Old English ent).
Compare Modern English ent (“giant tree-man”) and Old English þyrs (“giant, monster, demon”).
Pronunciation
Noun
giant (plural giants)
- A mythical human of very great size.
- (mythology) Specifically, any of the gigantes, the race of giants in the Greek mythology.
- A very tall person.
- A tall species of a particular animal or plant.
- (astronomy) A star that is considerably more luminous than a main sequence star of the same temperature (e.g. red giant, blue giant).
- (computing) An Ethernet packet that exceeds the medium's maximum packet size of 1,518 bytes.
- A very large organisation.
- The retail giant is set to acquire two more struggling high-street chains.
- A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual.
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
- 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 […].
- jotun
Synonyms
See also: Thesaurus:giant
Translations
mythical human
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Greek mythological creature
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very tall person
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luminous star
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Adjective
giant (not comparable)
- Very large.
- 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:
- The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters …. But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna. That would be the frozen chicatanas – giant winged ants – at around $500 a kilo.
Synonyms
- colossal, enormous, gigantic, immense, prodigious, vast
- See also Thesaurus:gigantic
Antonyms
Derived terms
Derived terms
Translations
giant
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Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
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- Rhymes:English/aɪənt
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- en:Mythology
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- en:Mythological creatures
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