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Babel

 [bey-buhl, bab-uhl]   Origin

Ba·bel

   [bey-buhl, bab-uhl]
noun
1.
an ancient city in the land of Shinar in which the building of a tower (Tower of Babel) intended to reach heaven was begun and the confusion of the language of the people took place. Gen. 11:4–9.
2.
(usually lowercase) a confused mixture of sounds or voices.
3.
(usually lowercase) a scene of noise and confusion.
Origin:
< Hebrew Bābhel Babylon

Related forms
Ba·bel·ic  [bey-bel-ik, ba-] , adjective

Synonyms
3. tumult, turmoil, uproar, bedlam, clamor.

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Babel is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

Ba·bel

   [bab-uhl; Russ. bah-byil]
noun
I·saak Em·ma·nu·i·lo·vich  [ahy-zuhk; Russ. ee-sahk yi-muh-noo-yee-luh-vyich] , 1894–1941, Russian author.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Babel
Collins
World English Dictionary
Babel1 (ˈbeɪbəl)
 
—n
1.  Old Testament
 a.  Also called: Tower of Babel a tower presumptuously intended to reach from earth to heaven, the building of which was frustrated when Jehovah confused the language of the builders (Genesis 11:1--9)
 b.  the city, probably Babylon, in which this tower was supposedly built
2.  (often not capital)
 a.  a confusion of noises or voices
 b.  a scene of noise and confusion
 
[from Hebrew Bābhél, from Akkadian Bāb-ilu, literally: gate of God]

Babel2 (Russian ˈbabɪl)
 
—n
Issak Emmanuilovich (iˈsak imənuˈiləvitʃ) 1894--1941, Russian short-story writer, whose works include Stories from Odessa(1924) and Red Cavalry (1926)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

Babel
capital of Babylon, late 14c., from Heb. Babhel (Gen. ix), from Akkadian bab-ilu "Gate of God" (from bab "gate" + ilu "god"). The name is a translation of Sumerian Ka-dingir. Meaning "confused medley of sounds" (1520s) is from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

BABEL definition


1. A subset of ALGOL 60, with many ALGOL W extensions.
["BABEL, A New Programming Language", R.S. Scowen, Natl Phys Lab UK, Report CCU7, 1969].
2. Mentioned in The Psychology of Computer Programming, G.M. Weinberg, Van Nostrand 1971, p.241.
3. A language based on higher-order functions and first-order logic.
["Graph-Based Implementation of a Functional Logic Language", H. Kuchen et al, Proc ESOP 90, LNCS 432, Springer 1990, pp.271-290].
["Logic Programming with Functions and Predicates: The Language BABEL", Moreno-Navarro et al, J Logic Prog 12(3) (Feb 1992)].
(1994-11-28)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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