giant
[jahy-uh nt]
- (in folklore) a being with human form but superhuman size, strength, etc.
- a person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance, etc.; major figure; legend: a giant in her field; an intellectual giant.
- (often initial capital letter) Classical Mythology. any of the Gigantes.
- Mining. monitor(def 12).
- Astronomy. giant star.
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- unusually large, great, or strong; gigantic; huge.
- greater or more eminent than others.
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Origin of giant
1250–1300; Middle English geant < Old French < Latin gigant- (stem of gigās) < Greek Gígās; replacing Old English gigant < Latin, as above
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for giant
Contemporary Examples
Yeah, the “Giant man-puppy” that is Gronkowski won't hold a sexual candle to the blue-eyed dreamboat.
I knew there would be good times and bad, sickness and health, broken dishwashers and giant cockroaches in the bathroom.
No alarms were triggered as she strolled out of the Giant supermarket in Limerick, Pennsylvania, and nobody thought otherwise.
The forests were lush and filled with life, from giant snakes to monkeys.
Lakes on Titan are full of methane, and the chemical is a major component of the giant planets Jupiter, Neptune, and so forth.
Historical Examples
What courage was requisite to grapple with this giant difficulty!
"I described the giant as he appeared to me," replied the student, rather piqued.
The Three Golden ApplesNathaniel Hawthorne
"We will see about that, one of these days," answered the giant.
The Three Golden ApplesNathaniel Hawthorne
She sang of Freya's apples, and of the strength and youth of the giant family.
Opera Stories from WagnerFlorence Akin
A sombre rage possessed them, and gave to their hearts a giant's daring.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
giant
- a mythical figure of superhuman size and strength, esp in folklore or fairy talesAlso (feminine): giantess (ˈdʒaɪəntɪs)
- a person or thing of exceptional size, reputation, etca giant in nuclear physics
- Greek myth any of the large and powerful offspring of Uranus (sky) and Gaea (earth) who rebelled against the Olympian gods but were defeated in battle
- pathol a person suffering from gigantism
- astronomy See giant star
- mining another word for monitor (def. 8)
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- remarkably or supernaturally large
- architect another word for colossal
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French geant, from Vulgar Latin gagās (unattested), from Latin gigās, gigant-, from Greek
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for giant
n.
c.1300, from Old French geant, earlier jaiant (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *gagantem (nominative gagas), from Latin gigas "giant," from Greek gigas (genitive gigantos), one of a race of savage beings, sons of Gaia and Uranus, eventually destroyed by the gods, probably from a pre-Greek language. Replaced Old English ent, eoten, also gigant. The Greek word was used in Septuagint to refer to men of great size and strength, hence the expanded use in modern languages. Of very tall persons from 1550s; of persons who have any quality in extraordinary degree, from 1530s.
In þat tyme wer here non hauntes Of no men bot of geauntes. [Wace's Chronicle, c.1330]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper