babel
/ˈbeɪ.bəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.91 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
The city and tower in the land of Shinar where the confusion of languages took place, according to the Bible.
Example Sentences
- "Therefore is the name of it called Babel[…]"
- "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."
- "A babel of languages could be heard in the streets and the squares, mingling with the local Provençal."
- "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."
- "He had already demanded the attention of the manager, Professor Bulge, Draycott and two underlings to his case and they were now involved in a babel of inutile reiteration."
- "[…] up in front the third and fourth class passengers were making a babel of noise as they either detrained or entrained together with their large families and strange collection of parcels, bundles and earthenware jars."
Etymology
Etymology tree Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim)der. Biblical Hebrew בָּבֶל (bāḇel)der. Latin Babelder. English Babel From Latin Babel, from Biblical Hebrew בָּבֶל (bāḇel, “Babylon”), from Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim); in Genesis associated with the idea of confusion. Doublet of Babylon.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Babel, בָּבֶל, Bābilim
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbeɪ.bəl/
- British English: /ˈbeɪ.bəl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
tower of Babel
Wiktionary Babel for user pages
Frequently Paired Words
Wiktionary Babel for user pages