babel
/ˈbeɪ.bəl/ noun, proper noun
Forms babels
- noun A confused noise made by a number of voices.
- proper noun (biblical) The city and tower in the land of Shinar where the confusion of languages took place, according to the Bible.
- noun A confused mixture of sounds and voices, especially in different languages.
- noun A place or scene of noise and confusion.
- noun A tall, looming structure.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin Babel, from Biblical Hebrew בָּבֶל (bāḇel, “Babylon”), from Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim); in Genesis associated with the idea of confusion. Doublet of Babylon.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The city and tower in the land of Shinar, where the confusion of languages took place.
- noun Hence: A place or scene of noise and confusion; a confused mixture of sounds, as of voices or languages.
Etymology [Heb. Babel, the name of the capital of Babylonia; in Genesis associated with the idea of "confusion"]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “babel”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details