colossus
Americannoun
plural
colossi, colossuses-
(initial capital letter) the legendary bronze statue of Helios at Rhodes.
-
any statue of gigantic size.
-
anything colossal, gigantic, or very powerful.
noun
Etymology
Origin of colossus
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek kolossós statue, image, presumably < a pre-Hellenic Mediterranean language
Explanation
The original colossus was an enormous statue that was supposed to have guarded the ancient Greek island and city of Rhodes. Now, though, we use the noun colossus for someone of huge importance, reputation, or influence. In the world of American music, Louis Armstrong is a colossus. He invented or perfected many of the elements of what we now call jazz — there's probably no figure of greater importance in that field. Even the second most important athlete in the world seems small in comparison to the colossus that is Muhammad Ali. He is, quite simply, the greatest. In the ancient world, Rome was an imperial colossus. Few nations could rival its strength, size, or colossal growth.
Vocabulary lists containing colossus
This Week in Words : December 23 - 29, 2017
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Reading: Literature - Mythology - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Mythology - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Colossus facility in Memphis has been a source of controversy.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
Anthropic will use all computing capacity at SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center, receiving 300 megawatts and 220,000 Nvidia GPUs.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Under the deal, Anthropic will use all of the compute capacity at SpaceX's Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee -- a facility originally built to power Musk's rival AI venture, xAI.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
Here’s the number that should get your attention: xAI announced recently that it ended 2025 with more than 1 million H100 GPU equivalents across its Colossus I and II supercomputers.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 15, 2026
In 1654 Walter Charleton called for ‘a Colossus of Gold’ to be erected in Galileo’s honour.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
