Babel

Ba·bel  (bbl, bbl)

In the Bible, a city (now thought to be Babylon) in Shinar where God confounded a presumptuous attempt to build a tower into heaven by confusing the language of its builders into many mutually incomprehensible languages.

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ba·bel also Ba·bel  (bbl, bbl)

n.

1. A confusion of sounds or voices. See Synonyms at noise.

2. A scene of noise and confusion.

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[After Babel.]

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Babel [ˈbeɪb^əl]

n

1. (Christian Religious Writings / Bible) Old Testament

a.  Also called Tower of Babel a tower presumptuously intended to reach from earth to heaven, the building of which was frustrated when Jehovah confused the language of the builders (Genesis 11:1-10)

b.  the city, probably Babylon, in which this tower was supposedly built

2. (often not capital)

a.  a confusion of noises or voices

b.  a scene of noise and confusion

[from Hebrew Bābhél, from Akkadian Bāb-ilu, literally: gate of God]

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Babel²

n

(Biographies / Babel, Issak Emmanuilovich (1894-1941) M, Russian, WRITING: short-story writer) Issak Emmanuilovich (iˈsak imənuˈiləvitʃ) 1894-1941, Russian short-story writer, whose works include Stories from Odessa(1924) and Red Cavalry (1926)

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Babel a confused mixture of sounds, voices, or languages; a confused assembly. See also charivari, hubbub, pandemonium.

Examples: babel of follies, 1529; of past idle objurgations, 1884; of sectaries, 1731; babel towers of chimney, 1848.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Babel - (Genesis 11:1-11) a tower built by Noah's descendants (probably in Babylon) who intended it to reach up to heaven; God foiled them by confusing their language so they could no longer understand one another Tower of Babel Book of Genesis, Genesis - the first book of the Old Testament: tells of Creation; Adam and Eve; the Fall of Man; Cain and Abel; Noah and the flood; God's covenant with Abraham; Abraham and Isaac; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his brothers Babylon - the chief city of ancient Mesopotamia and capital of the ancient kingdom of Babylonia
	2.	babel - a confusion of voices and other sounds confusion - an act causing a disorderly combination of elements with identities lost and distinctions blended; "the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel"

Translations

babel [ˈbeɪbəl] N → babel m or f
Tower of Babel → Torre f de Babel

babel [ˈbeɪb^əl] n (= babble, hubbub) → brouhaha m
a babel of noise → un brouhaha confus

Babel

n

the Tower of Babel (story) → der Turmbau zu Babel or Babylon; (edifice) → der Babylonische Turm

(also babel) (= confusion) → Durcheinander nt; (= several languages) → babylonisches Sprachengewirr

Babel [ˈbeɪbəl] n → Babele f
the Tower of Babel → la torre di Babele