Definitions for colossuskəˈlɒs əs; -ˈlɒs aɪ

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Random House Webster's College Dictionary

co•los•suskəˈlɒs əs; -ˈlɒs aɪ(n.)(pl.)-los•si; -los•sus•es.

  1. any statue of gigantic size.

  2. anything colossal, gigantic, or very powerful.

Origin of colossus:

1350–1400; ME < L < Gk kolossós statue, image, presumably < a pre-Hellenic Mediterranean language

Princeton's WordNet

  1. giant, goliath, behemoth, monster, colossus(noun)

    someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful

  2. colossus, behemoth, giant, heavyweight, titan(noun)

    a person of exceptional importance and reputation

Wiktionary

  1. colossus(Noun)

    A statue of gigantic size. The name was especially applied to certain famous statues in antiquity, as the Colossus of Nero in Rome and the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

  2. colossus(Noun)

    Any creature or thing of gigantic size.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Colossus(noun)

    a statue of gigantic size. The name was especially applied to certain famous statues in antiquity, as the Colossus of Nero in Rome, the Colossus of Apollo at Rhodes

  2. Colossus(noun)

    any man or beast of gigantic size

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Colossus

    any gigantic statue, specially one of Apollo in bronze, 120 ft. high, astride over the mouth of the harbour at Rhodes, reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world, erected in 280 B.C., destroyed by an earthquake 56 years after, and sold to a Jew centuries later for old metal; besides this are celebrated the statue of Memnon at Thebes, the Colossi of Athene in the Parthenon at Athens, and of Zeus at Olympia and at Tarentum, as well as others of modern date; for instance, Germania, 112 ft. high, in the Niederwald, and Liberty enlightening the World, 160 ft. high, in New York harbour.


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