Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
 
Help

colossality

 - 2 dictionary results

co⋅los⋅sal

[kuh-los-uhl]
–adjective
1. extraordinarily great in size, extent, or degree; gigantic; huge.
2. of or resembling a colossus.
3. (initial capital letter) Architecture. noting or pertaining to a classical order whose columns or pilasters span two or more stories of a building.

Origin:
1705–15; coloss(us) + -al 1


col⋅os⋅sal⋅i⋅ty [kol-uh-sal-i-tee] , noun
co⋅los⋅sal⋅ly, adverb


1. See gigantic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To colossality
Word Origin & History

colossal 
1712 (colossic in the same sense is recorded from 1607), from Fr. colossal, from colosse, from L. colossus, from Gk. kolossos, of unknown origin, used by Herodotus of giant Egyptian statues, and used by Romans of the bronze Apollo at the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes. Colossus is from 1398; generalized sense of "anything awesomely vast" is from 1794.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see colossality on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: