babel
Confusion of tongues
A babel is a confused mixture of sounds, especially many voices speaking at once so that nothing is intelligible: The meeting dissolved into a babel of competing opinions.
The word comes from the biblical Tower of Babel, where God confounded human speech into mutually incomprehensible languages.
Any scene of noise and confusion qualifies. (Capitalized Babel refers to the biblical story.)
Systems of human communication
- tonguesOral muscles for speech
- polyglotOne knowing many languages
- multilingualKnowing multiple languages
- diversityState of varied elements
miscommunication · unintelligible · gibberish · jargon · incomprehension · translation · interpreter · dialect
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- disorderAbsence of organization
- pandemoniumState of utter confusion
- bedlamState of wild disorder
- tumultNoisy, chaotic disturbance
commotion · uproar · cacophony · din · clamor · disarray · mayhem · turmoil
First biblical book
- Old TestamentPre-Christian biblical canon
- zigguratStepped ancient temple mound
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- dispersionScattering across space
scattering · divine punishment · brickwork · Nimrod · ascent · unfinished · ruins · allegory
languages
Systems of human communication
- tonguesOral muscles for speech
- polyglotOne knowing many languages
- multilingualKnowing multiple languages
diversity · miscommunication · unintelligible · gibberish · jargon · incomprehension · translation · interpreter · dialect · vernacular
confusion
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- disorderAbsence of organization
- pandemoniumState of utter confusion
- bedlamState of wild disorder
tumult · commotion · uproar · cacophony · din · clamor · disarray · mayhem · turmoil · noise
Genesis
First biblical book
- Old TestamentPre-Christian biblical canon
- zigguratStepped ancient temple mound
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
dispersion · scattering · divine punishment · brickwork · Nimrod · ascent · unfinished · ruins · allegory · origin story
- TeXLaTeX, preamble, macros, commands, packages
- Hebrew Wordsshalom, amen, hallelujah, chai, Adonai
- audiosound, headphones, audio track, volume control, sound recording
- loud noisesnoise, bang, crash, roar, boom
- volumecubic meters, bulk, cubic feet, quantity, cubic inches
babelclarity
State of being understandable
articulation · coherence · intelligibility · enunciation · distinctness
babelorder
Methodical arrangement or request
harmony · peace · orderliness · organization · concord
- 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
babble, babbling, babbled, babbles, babbler, Babylon, babblers, Babylonia