English
colossal
Colossal comes from French colossal ‘colossal, huge’, and goes back to Ancient Greek κολοσσός ‘giant statue’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκολοσσόςkolossós‘giant statue’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolossus‘colossus, giant statue’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcolosse‘colossus’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentcolossal‘colossal, huge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1912same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκολοσσόςkolossós‘giant statue’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolossus‘colossus, giant statue’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcolosse‘colossus’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentcolossal‘colossal, huge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1912same form
Earliest quotation: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […]: “It's just the very biggest thing that I ever…”
Linked words
through Ancient Greek κολοσσός ‘giant statue’
Today it means
adj Extremely large or on a great scale.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek κολοσσός / colossal