gigantism
Americannoun
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Pathology. abnormally great development in size or stature of the whole body or of parts of the body, most often due to dysfunction of the pituitary gland.
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Biology. the nonpathological development of an animal or plant to an unusually large size.
noun
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Also called: giantism. excessive growth of the entire body, caused by over-production of growth hormone by the pituitary gland during childhood or adolescence Compare acromegaly
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the state or quality of being gigantic
Etymology
Origin of gigantism
First recorded in 1880–85; from Latin gigant-, stem of gigās; see origin at giant, -ism
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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.
Island gigantism occurs when animals isolated on islands become much larger than related species on the mainland.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
An industry less prone to gigantism might have avoided those horrors.
From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
The ability to continue growing throughout the year may have been a key innovation, sustained by great migrations, that facilitated the emergence of gigantism in early sauropods.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 15, 2023
Knowing that people with gigantism often died young, Hunter offered to buy his corpse.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 24, 2023
Like the buildup of super-tall skyscrapers along the Asian rim in our own time, architectural gigantism followed the accumulation of sufficient money and political confidence to make such gestures.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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.
