• gargantuan •
Pronunciation: gahr-gæn-chu-ên • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Huge, colossal, gigantic.
Notes: Today we have a large word referring to extra large objects. It is the adjective made from an archaic word, Gargantua "a giant". A gargantuist at one time referred to a large giant and gargantuism referred to anything supersized. Both are now archaic.
In Play: This word may be used to express supersize with any noun: "The temple contained a gargantuan reclining Buddha." Any noun at all: "The amount of alcohol consumed at her convivial suppers was gargantuan." This led to gargantuan gaiety, of course. The next morning everyone woke up with gargantuan headaches.
Word History: Today's Good Word is an eponym, manufactured from Gargantua, a large-mouthed giant with a very large appetite in the novel by François Rabelais Gargantua (1534). Rabelais didn't have to look far for words related to voracious. Old French gargole "throat, waterspout" and Modern French gargouille "gargoyle" gave him a start. We find words all over IE languages that might have come from an underlying gwer-/gwor- "throat, swallow", including Sanskrit gargarah "gullet", Greek gargarizein "to gargle", Russian gorlo "throat", Serbian grlo "throat", Polish gardło "throat", Albanian zorrë "bowel, intestine", and English gargle, gulp and gullet. The rest of the word is close enough to French géant "giant" and Greek gigantes "giants" to convey the sense of size. (Now for a small note of gratitude to Rob Towart for suggesting we run today's hugely interesting Good Word.)
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