Word of the DaySunday, January 11, 2009

gargantuan

\gahr-GAN-choo-uhn\ , adjective:
1.
enormous; gigantic; huge
Quotes:
On a marshy peninsula 50 miles from this Red Sea port, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is staking $12.5 billion on a gargantuan bid to catch up with the West in science and technology.
-- Thanassis Cambanis, New York Times, 2007-10-26
But keeping them there, with the night shifts and the erratic parental schedules, was a gargantuan effort.
-- Allison Sherry, Denver Post, 2006-12-18
Origin:
by 1571, from Gargantua, large-mouthed giant in Rabelais' novels, supposedly from Spanish/Portuguese garganta "gullet, throat," which is from the same imitative root as gargle.
Get Word of the Day
Free Email Sign Up
Other Delivery Options:
SMS-Text WDAY to 44636.
Standard messaging rates apply
RSS
Facebook
iPhone
Twitter
Widget
Spanish