Babel
Genesis tower city
Babel is a biblical reference—the Tower of Babel, where God confused human language so builders could no longer understand one another.
The word now means a scene of noise and confusion, especially where many voices speak at once: The meeting devolved into babel.
A babel of languages suggests chaotic multilingual speech. (Lowercase babel emphasizes the common noun sense; capitalized Babel the biblical allusion.)
Tall slender edifice
- GenesisFirst biblical book
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- scatteringDistribution in many directions
- zigguratStepped ancient temple mound
Nimrod · heaven · punishment · bricks · bitumen · divine · wrath · dispersion
State of utter confusion
- dinSustained unpleasant noise
- clamorLoud persistent noise
- noiseUnwanted auditory disturbance
- tumultNoisy, chaotic disturbance
bedlam · uproar · commotion · disorder · racket · hubbub · disarray · mayhem
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- tonguesOral muscles for speech
- languagesSystems of human communication
- diversityState of varied elements
- multilingualKnowing multiple languages
cacophony · miscommunication · polyglot · incomprehension · speech · dialect · translation · barrier
- libraryBook collection or building
- BruegelSixteenth-century Flemish master
- paintingPigment on canvas
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
symbolism · Dostoevsky · metaphor · hubris · modernism · dystopia · fragmentation · postmodern
Converting between languages
- algorithmFinite problem-solving procedure
- machinePower-driven working device
- softwarePrograms directing computer operations
- fishGilled aquatic vertebrate
interpreter · automatic · interface · protocol · interoperability · encoding · localization · API
tower
Tall slender edifice
- GenesisFirst biblical book
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- scatteringDistribution in many directions
ziggurat · Nimrod · heaven · punishment · bricks · bitumen · divine · wrath · dispersion · origin
pandemonium
State of utter confusion
tumult · bedlam · uproar · commotion · disorder · racket · hubbub · disarray · mayhem · turmoil
confusion
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- tonguesOral muscles for speech
- languagesSystems of human communication
- diversityState of varied elements
multilingual · cacophony · miscommunication · polyglot · incomprehension · speech · dialect · translation · barrier · gibberish
Borges
allegory · symbolism · Dostoevsky · metaphor · hubris · modernism · dystopia · fragmentation · postmodern · intertextuality
translation
Converting between languages
- algorithmFinite problem-solving procedure
- machinePower-driven working device
- softwarePrograms directing computer operations
fish · interpreter · automatic · interface · protocol · interoperability · encoding · localization · API · communication
- BibleOld Testament, New Testament, Holy Scriptures, Adam, Moses
- Ensemble FilmsThe Breakfast Club, Love Actually, Nashville, Grand Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums
- towerstower, bell tower, radio tower, water tower, cell tower
- Russian LiteratureTolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, Nabokov
- BabylonNebuchadnezzar, Hammurabi, Marduk, ziggurat, Euphrates
- GenesisAdam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac
Babelunity
Wholeness through cohesion
comprehension · understanding · lingua franca · universal language · Esperanto
- babbling brookSmall stream making sounds
- Tower of BabelOrigin of linguistic diversity
- Whore of BabylonBiblical embodiment of depravity
- fall of BabylonMesopotamian empire's end
- Babel FishFictional universal translator organism
- Babylon 5Sci-fi station drama