Giant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdÊ’aɪ.É™nt/
• Rhymes: -aɪənt
• Hyphenation: gi + ant

Alternative forms

• giaunt obsolete

Origin

From Ancient Greek γίγας (gigas, "giant"), Middle English geant, from Old French geant, gaiant (Modern French géant) from Vulgar Latin *gagās, gagant-, from Latin gigās, gigant-. Cognate to giga- ("1,000,000,000").

Replaced native Middle English eten, ettin (from Old English Ä“oten), Middle English eont (from Old English ent).

Compare Modern English ent ("giant tree") and Old English þyrs ("giant, monster, demon").

Full definition of giant

Noun

1. A mythical human of very great size
2. (mythology) Specifically, any of the Gigantes, the race of giants in the Greek mythology.
3. A very tall person.
4. A tall species of a particular animal or plant.
5. (astronomy) A star that is considerably more luminous than a main sequence star of the same temperature (eg. red giant, blue giant).
6. (computing) An Ethernet packet that exceeds the medium's maximum packet size of 1,518 bytes.
7. A very large organisation.
   The retail giant is set to acquire two more struggling high-street chains.
8. A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual.
• 1879, Richard Jefferies, The Amateur Poacher Chapter 1, But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder.

Adjective

1. Very large.

Synonyms

• colossal, enormous, gigantic, immense, prodigious, vast

Derived terms

• giant cell
• giant clam
• giantess
• giant heron
• giantism
• giant kettle
• giant powder
• giant puffball
• giant salamander
• giant squid
• giant white radish

Anagrams

• anti-g