This week’s theme
Biblical people and places that became words

This week’s words
Goshen
christen
Sodom
Rechabite
tower of Babel


This week’s comments
AWADmail 1109

Next week’s theme
Tosspot words

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(TOU-uhr ov BAY-buhl/BAB-uhl)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A scene of noise or confusion.
2. An ambitious or impractical plan.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Hebrew Babhel (Babylon). According to the Bible, at one time everyone on Earth spoke the same language (though earlier it says that they spoke different languages). When people got together to build a city with a tower that reached the heavens, God was not happy and halted the project by confounding their speech, making them unable to understand one another. Earliest documented use: 1718.

USAGE:

“Unfortunately, makers of acoustic nodes have developed several incompatible data protocols, creating a ‘Tower of Babel and a world of pain’ for teams trying to link them together, says Mr. Potter.”
Captain Nemo Goes Online; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 9, 2013.

See more usage examples of tower of Babel in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: