Babel
Definition
The biblical name of the city of Babylon, famous for the Tower of Babel, a monumental building erected by humans to reach heaven, an act of pride punished by God by confounding their languages; by extension, the term denotes a place where total confusion reigns, a chaotic mix of languages, peoples, or conflicting opinions where nobody understands anyone.
Bilingual Equivalents
- Babel
- Tower of Babel
Grammatical & Source Details
| Inflection Type | Proper noun, singular usage, functions as a common noun when lowercased metaphorically. |
| Formation | Hebrew proper name (Bābel), etymologically linked in biblical narratives to the verb meaning 'to confound'. |
| Spelling / Pronunciation | [ˈba.bel] |
| Source | The Anchor Bible Dictionary and Theological Lexicon |
Contextual Usage Examples
RO: Șantierul internațional devenise un adevărat Babel în care inginerii vorbeau în cinci limbi diferite fără traducători.
EN: The international construction site had become a true Babel where engineers spoke in five different languages without translators.
RO: Povestea despre Babel din Cartea Genezei explică simbolic diversitatea lingvistică a omenirii actuale.
EN: The story of Babel in the Book of Genesis symbolically explains the linguistic diversity of present-day humanity.
RO: În acea adunare politică s-a creat un Babel de nedescris, fiecare strigându-și argumentele în același timp.
EN: An indescribable Babel was created in that political assembly, with everyone shouting their arguments at the same time.
Idioms & Phrases
Turnul Babel / Tower of Babel
RO: Simbol al mândriei umane nemăsurate și, în același timp, al eșecului grandios cauzat de lipsa de comunicare.
EN: A symbol of boundless human pride and, at the same time, of grandiose failure caused by the lack of communication.
Ca la Babel / Like a madhouse / total pandemonium
RO: Expresie folosită pentru a descrie o atmosferă extrem de zgomotoasă, agitată, unde domnește neînțelegerea deplină.
EN: An expression used to describe an extremely noisy, hectic atmosphere where complete misunderstanding reigns.
Încurcătură de Babel / Babel-like confusion / linguistic mess
RO: Situație extrem de complicată din punct de vedere organizatoric sau lingvistic, imposibil de rezolvat rapid.
EN: A situation that is highly complicated from an organizational or linguistic point of view, impossible to resolve quickly.
Latest Contextual News
No recent news found for this topic.