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giantlike

 - 2 dictionary results

gi⋅ant

  [jahy-uhnt]
Use giantlike in a Sentence
–noun
1. (in folklore) a being with human form but superhuman size, strength, etc.
2. a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.; major figure; legend: a giant in her field; an intellectual giant.
3. (often initial capital letter) Classical Mythology. any of the Gigantes.
4. Mining. monitor (def. 12).
5. Astronomy. giant star.
–adjective
6. unusually large, great, or strong; gigantic; huge.
7. greater or more eminent than others.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME geant < OF < L gigant- (s. of gigās) < Gk Gígās; r. OE gigant < L, as above

Related forms:
gi⋅ant⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

giant 
1297, from O.Fr. geant, from V.L. *gagantem (nom. gagas), from L. gigas "giant," from Gk. gigas (gen. gigantos), one of a race of savage beings, sons of Gaia and Uranus, eventually destroyed by the gods, probably from a pre-Gk. language. Replaced O.E. ent, eoten. The Gk. word was used in Septuagint to refer to men of great size and strength, hence the expanded use in modern languages. Gigantic (1612) replaced earlier gigantine.
"In þat tyme wer here non hauntes Of no men bot of geauntes." [Wace's Chronicle, c.1330]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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