|
Home
|
Jun 23, 2011
This week's themeBiblical places that became words in English This week's words golgotha laodicean calvary babel aceldama 
The Tower of Babel
Art: Pieter Bruegel the Elder
(c. 1525-1569) 
Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargbabel
PRONUNCIATION:
(BAB-uhl, BAY-buhl)
MEANING:
noun:1. A confused mixture of noises or voices. 2. A scene of noise or confusion. ETYMOLOGY:
From Hebrew Babhel (Babylon). In the Old Testament (Genesis 11:4-9), people
united in an attempt to build a city with a tower that reached the heavens.
This displeased god who halted the project by confounding people's speech so
they wouldn't understand one another. Earliest documented use: before 1382.
USAGE:
"While an excited babel of Spanish, German, Japanese, and Hindi emanated
from the dozens of television news crews in the street, the response to
Charles and Camilla's I dos among locals was mostly We Don't."Glenda Cooper; In Windsor, a Royal Pain; The Washington Post; Apr 10, 2005. See more usage examples of babel in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Nobody can be lucky all the time; / so when your luck deserts you in some fashion / don't think you've been abandoned in your prime, / but rather that you're saving up your ration. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)
|
|
Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
© 1994-2025 Wordsmith