colossal

Forms

colossal (feminine colossale, masculine plural colossaux, feminine plural colossales)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French colosse + -al,^[2][3][4][1] the noun being from Latin colossus (“gigantic statue”), from Ancient Greek κολοσσός (kolossós), which first named the colossus of Rhodes in French.^[2][5] Rey explains that the Greek word at first named any statue of human shape, whatever its size, and is probably a Mediterranean loan, perhaps from a place name; the sense “huge statue” came from the size of the Apollo of Rhodes.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded before 1596 in Blaise de Vigenère's translation of the life of Apollonius of Tyana, describing something of extraordinary size.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From the start the adjective described anything of extraordinary dimensions or proportions, both literally and figuratively, following the noun colosse, which had come to mean a giant and then anything of gigantic size or power.^[5] It is also used as a noun for a taste for the huge (le goût du colossal).^[7]

The spelling kolossal is used jokingly in French in allusion to the German word, whose uses and figurative values differ from the French ones.^[5] The English word colossal was taken from French in 1712.^[8]

Timeline

• Before 1596 – First recorded, in Vigenère.^[2][6]
• 1712 – English borrows it as colossal.^[8]
• 1833 – The adverb colossalement is attested, according to Rey; the TLFi dates it 1845, in Théophile Gautier.^[5][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Extremely large, of enormous or gigantic size: une tour colossale.^[7][2][9]
2. (figurative) Huge in strength, wealth or extent: une dette colossale.^[7][10]

Noun

1. Le colossal: the taste or craze for the huge.^[7][10]

Word family

• colossalement

Related words

• colosse
• Latin colossus
• English colossal

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)