Babel
name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A confused mixture of sounds and voices, especially in different languages.
"As the three were making their way through the crowds of marketers, camels, donkeys, and horses that filled the market place with a confusing babel of sounds, Abdul plucked at Tarzan’s sleeve."
- 2 Alternative form of Babel. alt-of, alternative, uncountable, usually
- 3 a confusion of voices and other sounds wordnet
- 4 A place or scene of noise and confusion.
- 5 A confused noise made by a number of voices. uncountable, usually
"I closed the door hurriedly on the babel and groped my way back to bed. At that moment bed seemed to be the one safe, comforting thing in my whole baffling environment."
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- 6 A tall, looming structure.
- 1 The city and tower in the land of Shinar where the confusion of languages took place, according to the Bible.
"Therefore is the name of it called Babel[…]"
Example
More examples"The biblical Tower of Babel is what architects call a ziggurat."
Etymology
From Latin Babel, from Biblical Hebrew בָּבֶל (bāḇel, “Babylon”), from Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim); in Genesis associated with the idea of confusion. Doublet of Babylon.
Related phrases
More for "babel"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.