Babel
pronunciation
How to pronounce Babel in British English:
UK ['beɪbl]
How to pronounce Babel in American English:
US ['beɪbl]
-
- Noun:
- a confusion of voices and other sounds
Word Origin
- babel
- babel: [14] According to Genesis 11: 1–9, the tower of Babel was built in Shinar by the descendants of Noah in an attempt to reach heaven. Angered at their presumption, God punished the builders by making them unable to understand each other’s speech: hence, according to legend, the various languages of the world. Hence, too, the metaphorical application of babel to a ‘confused medley of sounds’, which began in English in the 16th century.The word has no etymological connection with ‘language’ or ‘noise’, however. The original Assyrian bāb-ilu meant ‘gate of god’, and this was borrowed into Hebrew as bābel (from which English acquired the word). The later Greek version is Babylon.=> babylon
- Babel
- capital of Babylon, late 14c., from Hebrew Babhel (Gen. xi), from Akkadian bab-ilu "Gate of God" (from bab "gate" + ilu "god"). The name is a translation of Sumerian Ka-dingir. Meaning "confused medley of sounds" (1520s) is from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.
Example
- 1. One of his greatest was the babel fish .
- 2. Babel fishes are pipe dreams , especially for highly localised languages like bembe .
- 3. For this ubiquitous technology , mankind suffers from a tower of babel syndrome .
- 4. But like the building of the tower of babel , it has negative ones , too .
- 5. Babel tv , a niche channel on sky italia , a pay-tv platform owned by rupert murdoch , airs worthy programming for immigrants .