titanic

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L1912 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /taɪˈtænɪk/

adj

Etymology: From Late Latin Titanicus, or its etymon Ancient Greek Τιτανικός (Titanikós, “of or relating to the Titans”), from Τιτᾶνες (Titânes, “Titans”) + -ικός (-ikós, “suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives”). Τιτᾶνες (Titânes) is the nominative or vocative plural of Τῑτᾱ́ν (Tītā́n, “a Titan”), and then possibly: * from τῐ́σῐς (tĭ́sĭs, “payment; atonement, penalty, punishment, retribution, reward; vengeance”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- (“to pay; to avenge”); or * from τιταίνω (titaínō, “to extend, stretch”), from τείνω (teínō, “to extend, stretch; to spread; to exert, push to the limit, strain”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to extend, stretch”); or * from τίτο (títo, “sun; day”), originally borrowed from Anatolian. The English word is analyzable as Titan + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).

Of or relating to the Titans, a race of giant gods in Greek mythology.
Having great size, or great force, power, or strength.
“Rome—Rome imperial, bows her to the storm, / In the same dust and blackness, and we pass / The skeleton of her Titanic form, / Wrecks of another world, whose ashes still are warm.”
“And still in the distracted distance we beheld the tumults of the outer concentric circles, and saw successive pods of whales, eight or ten in each, swiftly going round and round, like multiplied spans of horses in a ring; and so closely shoulder to shoulder, that a Titanic circus-rider might easily have overarched the middle ones, and so have gone round on their backs.”
Of a conflict or contest: involving equally powerful participants.

name

Etymology: The proper noun is derived from Titanic (etymology 1, adjective senses 1 and 2.1), as the ship was the largest and thought to be the strongest in the world at the time it was constructed. The common noun is derived from the name of the ship.

The RMS Titanic, an ocean liner, thought by the public to be unsinkable, that sank on its maiden voyage on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg.
“The Titanic story inspired a movie considered as one of the best of all time.”

noun

A venture that fails spectacularly, especially one perceived as overconfident.
“Surely , one doesn't want another Titanic, with everyone sailing along in the serene belief that all will be well”
“"[…]We don't want another Titanic on our hands. Come on, folks, there's plenty of lifeboats for everybody. Make your way down."”