Titan

How to spell titan

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce titan

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does titan mean?

1. nounA person or thing of exceptional size, strength, importance, or achievement.

Titan in a sentence

• He became a titan of the publishing industry over four decades.

• The new bridge is a titan of steel and concrete spanning the whole estuary.

Where does titan come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word comes straight from Greek mythology, where the Titans (Greek Titanes) were the race of enormous primeval gods who ruled before the Olympian gods and were eventually overthrown by them. The Greek name is of uncertain origin, though ancient writers linked it with words for stretching or straining, perhaps suggesting overreaching power. The figure of the Titan Atlas, condemned to hold up the sky, and the Titan Prometheus, who stole fire for humankind, kept the idea of vast strength alive. English took the word up in the 1500s, first for the mythological beings and then, by the 1600s and especially the 1800s, as a general term for any person or thing of huge size or influence. The same root gave us the element titanium, named for its strength, and the moon Titan, the largest of Saturn's satellites.

How the word is built

• titan (from Greek Titan, one of the giant deities of early myth)

Words that sound like titan

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• tighten: To make or become firmer, tauter, or more secure.