babel
UK/ˈbeɪ.bəl//ˈbeɪ.bəl/
babel noun: a confused noise made by a number of voices. Also the alternative form of Babel.
Noun (1)
babel (usually uncountable, plural babels)
- A confused noise made by a number of voices.
- I closed the door hurriedly on the babel and groped my way back to bed. At that moment bed seemed to be the one safe, comforting thing in my whole baffling environment.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 11
- He had already demanded the attention of the manager, Professor Bulge, Draycott and two underlings to his case and they were now involved in a babel of inutile reiteration.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados
Proper noun capitalized: Babel
Babel
Noun (2) capitalized: Babel
Babel (plural Babels)
- A confused mixture of sounds and voices, especially in different languages.
- As the three were making their way through the crowds of marketers, camels, donkeys, and horses that filled the market place with a confusing babel of sounds, Abdul plucked at Tarzan’s sleeve.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg, published March 1915, →OCLC
- A babel of languages could be heard in the streets and the squares, mingling with the local Provençal.2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge, published 2008, page 48
- A place or scene of noise and confusion.
- A tall, looming structure.
Also used as
babel is also the alternative form of Babel.
Forms of babel
| plural | babels |
|---|---|
| plural | Babels |
| alternative form | babel |
Origin of babel
From Latin Babel, from Biblical Hebrew בָּבֶל (bāḇel, “Babylon”), from Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Bābilim); in Genesis associated with the idea of confusion. Doublet of Babylon.
Words formed from babel
Phrases with babel
Words that rhyme with babel
16 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about babel
- What does babel mean?
- Babel means a confused noise made by a number of voices.
- What part of speech is babel?
- Babel can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce babel?
- Babel is pronounced /ˈbeɪ.bəl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of babel?
- The plural of babel is babels.
Words near babel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: babel (page history and authors); Babel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-babel.wav.
Cite this entry: “babel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/babel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.