Titann.1adj.
/ˈtʌɪtn/, U.S. /ˈtaɪtn/ A. n.1† 1. Chiefly poetic. The sun god; the sun personified. Obsolete.In Greek mythology, Hyperion, one of the Titans (see sense A. 2b), was the father of the sun god Helios.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > sun > [noun]
lightOE
sunOE
Phoebusc1275
the sheenc1400
Titana1413
solc1450
wheel1558
day-sun1570
day star1596
king of day1596
flame-god1598
Aten1877
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 1464 Þe sonne Tytan gan he to chyde.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 5416 Þe dede cors to carien in-to toun Of worþi Hector, whan Titan went doun.
?1553 (c1501) G. Douglas Palice of Honour (London) Prol. l. 33 in Shorter Poems (1967) 10 The assiltre and goldin chaire of pryce Of Tytan, quhilk at morowe semis reid.
?1570 T. Howell Newe Sonets 2 How Titan lifteth vp,..Whose glorious glyttering beames, doth mooue eache thing to ioy.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. xi. 25 Let Tytan rise as earely as he dare. View more context for this quotation
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 2 The third of April at Titans first blush [1634 early in the morning] we got sight of Porto Santo.
a1649 W. Drummond Poems (1656) 173 Whilst Eaglets stare on Titans beames.
1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 10 Then wo to Mortals! Titan then exerts His Heat intense, and on our Vitals preys.
1787 T. Taylor tr. Mystical Initiations vii. 122 Golden Titan, whose eternal eye With broad survey, illumines all the sky.
1820 Maryland Gaz. 21 Sept. The sparkling drop of summer dew On which the morning rays of Titan shine.
1896 E. Ridley tr. Lucan Pharsalia vii. 207 Till flaming Titan nigh to either pole Beheld thine empire.
2. Classical Mythology.
a. In some accounts: the name of the firstborn son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth), regarded as the ancestor or eponym of the Titans (sense A. 2b).The firstborn son of Uranus and Gaia is not named as one of the twelve Titans in Hesiod's Theogony, but was apparently invented by Euhemerus of Messene (fl. late 4th cent. b.c.) as part of his reinterpretation of the Greek gods and heroes as historical figures (cf. Euhemerism n.), and subsequently incorporated into some later retellings of classical myth.
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?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 4 He [sc. Uranus] had two sonnes that is to wete Tytan [Fr. Titan] & Satorn.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Judith xvi. B It was not the sonnes of Titan that slew him.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) 200 The Gods themselues had their imbecilities. Saturne was peuishe, Iupiter adulterous, Apollo wanton, and Titan enuious.
1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica i. sig. B2v Tytan, was for his vgly shape abhord.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 510 Th' Ionian Gods..Titan Heav'ns first born With his enormous brood, and birthright seis'd By younger Saturn. View more context for this quotation
1731 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. (ed. 2) II. at Saturn Titan..made war apon Saturn, with the assistance of his sons.
a1749 S. Boyse New Pantheon (1753) ii. 16 His [sc. Saturn's] endeavouring..to exclude his elder Brother Titan from the Throne.
1847 S. Goodrich Pict. Hist. Greece xxix. 75 Titan was the elder son, but he gave up his dominion to his brother Saturn.
1915 M. Piggott Amer. Geneal. iv. 37 Titan and his half brothers, made war on Kronos, dethroned and captured him.
2007 J. L. Lightfoot Sibylline Oracles vi. 208 The Sibyl has given Titan and Cronos a third brother, Iapetos.
b. Any of the older gods of great size and strength, the children of Uranus and Gaia, who overthrew Uranus under the leadership of the youngest child Cronus, and who in turn were overthrown and imprisoned in Tartarus by the Olympians led by Cronus's son Zeus. Also: any of the children or descendants of these gods (e.g. Prometheus, Atlas), excluding Zeus and the other descendants of Cronus. Frequently in plural.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > characters from classical mythology > Titans > ancestor of
Titanc1487
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > characters from classical mythology > Titans
Titan1728
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iv. 323 Rhea..the sistere of Saturne and of all other the Titans [L. Titanum].
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos vi. sig. Rv There lie the Tytans brood [L. Titania pubes].
1566 J. Studley tr. Seneca Agamemnon ii. sig. D When from fyry heauen the dynt of lyghtnyng flew, Sent downe by wrath of gods, the Titans [L. Titanas] ouerthrew.
1610 R. Tofte tr. N. de Montreux Honours Acad. ii. 48 Thou art one of that accursed race of the Titans, whom Iupiter blasted with Lightning, for their notorious pride.
1688 R. Morden Geogr. Rectified (ed. 2) 254 It [sc. Crete] hath been famous for the Wars of the Titans against the Gods.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) This War lasted ten Years; but at length the Titans were vanquish'd; Jupiter remain'd in peaceable Possession of Heaven, and the Titans were bury'd under huge Mountains thrown on their Heads.
1790 G. Bagnall tr. F. de S. de la M. Fénélon Telemachus I. i. 11 The daring Titans, and imbattled Gods.
1823 ‘B. Cornwall’ Flood of Thessaly 127 Passion, bright as fire the Titan [i.e. Prometheus] stole.
1858 H. Bushnell Serm. for New Life (1869) ii. 19 A race of Titans broken loose from order and warring on God and each other.
1908 G. K. Chesterton Orthodoxy (1909) viii. 258 The Titans did not scale heaven; but they laid waste the world.
1971 Hermes 99 344 Atlas is a Titan, a conquered opponent of the Olympian and Jovian order.
2012 Economist 22 Dec. 26/1 In Hell..lay the Titans who defied Zeus in Greek myth.
3.
a. Now usually with lower-case initial. Originally: a person who resembles the Titans (sense A. 2b) in going against or challenging the established order. Later: a person (also a thing, organization, etc.) of very great size, power, or importance; a giant.In classical mythology, the Titans were overthrown by the Olympians, who in turn were threatened by the uprising of the Giants (see the etymology at giant n. and adj.); it is therefore likely that early quots. referring to a person challenging the established order as a ‘Titan’ show confusion between Titans and Giants.In quot. 1869 contrasted with Olympian n.2 2, with reference to the different qualities of each race of gods and their mutual hostility.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person
gemc1275
blooma1300
excellence1447
mirrorc1450
man of mena1470
treasure?1545
paragon1548
shining light1563
Apollo's swan?1592
man of wax1597
rara avis1607
Titan1611
choice spirita1616
excellency1725
inestimable1728
inimitable1751
cock of the walk1781
surpasser1805
shiner1810
swell1816
trump1819
tip-topper1822
star1829
beauty1832
soarer1895
trumph1895
pansy1899
Renaissance man1906
exemplum virtutis1914
museum piece1920
superman1925
flyer1930
pistol1935
all-star1949
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun] > hugeness > that which is
Typhon?1592
coloss1597
Titan1611
colossus1646
Patagonian1767
mammoth1824
enormity1825
mastodon1850
prodigiosity1895
tyrannosaurus1957
1611 W. Vaughan Spirit of Detraction iv. ii. 127 The zeale of Gods glory, which these Titans, Encelades, and their monstrous factions goe about to batter by their beastly behauiours.
1680 J. Phillips Dr. Oates's Narr. Vindicated 2 This Titan of a Vindicator.., who so boldly dares to Scale the Heaven of Soveraign Majesty, and impeach at once the Prudence and Justice of Three Kingdoms.
1722 Weekly Jrnl. 10 Nov. 2390/2 Go on, Great Sir! and be completely Great, And blast those Titans that attempt Your Seat.
1783 Morning Herald 10 Mar. In the next century this country may probably be over-run with a new race of Titans, unless his Majesty of Prussia should play the Kidnapper!
1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein I. vi. 147 The sun was just about to kiss the top of the most gigantic of that race of Titans [sc. the Swiss mountains].
1869 A. C. Swinburne in S. T. Coleridge Christabel p. vi The ranks of great men are properly divisible, not into thinkers and workers, but into Titans and Olympians.
1903 J. Stewart Dawn in Dark Continent i. 22 The weary Titan need not complain too much.
1974 R. A. Caro Power Broker 5 The city in which the shaping by his hand is most evident is New York, Titan of cities.
1988 Spy (N.Y.) June 36/5 Near the Jerome Avenue entrance, former titans of industry hunker together for eternity.
2012 Independent 12 Oct. 14/1 The reputation of a man who was once a sporting titan is in tatters.
b. (The name of) any of various large and powerful machines, spec. a type of large cantilever crane.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [noun] > crane > types of
quay crane1821
balance-crane1824
well crane1836
water crane1849
jenny1861
jib-crane1873
stacker1875
Titan1876
transfer-elevatora1884
whip-crane1883
Goliath1888
jigger1891
wharf crane1893
floating crane1903
tower crane1906
hammer-headed crane1908
portal crane1908
hammer-head crane1910
luffing crane1913
cherry-picker1945
stacker crane1959
monotower1963
Transtainer1964
portainer1966
1876 Daily News 30 Oct. 6/4 A novel kind of dredger is in use, consisting of a centrifugal pump, called a ‘Titan’, which raises the sand together with a certain proportion of water, and discharges it in the barges.
1894 Times 29 Jan. 14/2 A titan steam crane will be mounted on deck for moving any of the heavy parts for examination or repair.
1911 Encycl. Brit. IV. 479/2 These sloping blocks are laid by powerful overhanging, block-setting cranes, called Titans, which travel along the completed portion of the breakwater, and lay the blocks in advance.
1964 Financial Times 4 Dec. 6/3 (caption) The Titan is lifting the second crane's upper unit (weight 28 tons).
2008 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 2 May 16 This crane is the oldest of four Titans which remain on the Clyde as a reminder of its shipbuilding heritage.
4. Astronomy. The name of the largest of Saturn's moons, which is notable for having a dense nitrogen-rich atmosphere.Titan was discovered by Christiaan Huygens in 1655, and named by John Herschel in 1847 (see quot. 18471). The Cassini Saturn orbiter (from 2004) and the Huygens lander (2005) revealed a somewhat earth-like landscape with lakes of liquid methane.For an explanation of Herschel's choice of name, see quot. 18472 and cf. sense A. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > satellite of Saturn > [noun] > specific
Titan1847
1847 J. F. W. Herschel Results Astron. Observ. vi. 415 The names I have selected are as follows: viz., for..The bright satellite, discovered by Huyghens..Titan.
1847 J. F. W. Herschel Results Astron. Observ. vi. 415 As Saturn devoured his children, his family could not be assembled round him, so that the choice lay among his brothers and sisters, the Titans and Titanesses... The name Iapetus seemed indicated by the obscurity and remoteness of the exterior satellite, Titan by the superior size of the Huygenian, while the three female appellatives class together the three intermediate Cassinian satellites.
1878 S. Newcomb Pop. Astron. iii. iv. 353 The smallest telescope will show Titan.
1941 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 239 215 It is therefore not surprising to find that the whole ring system is not dissipated by the large mass of Titan.
1979 Guardian 3 Sept. 11/3 The spacecraft is heading out past Titan on a new trajectory.
2006 Nature 27 July 362/1 Images of Saturn's largest moon Titan..invoke a sense of familiarity: river channels meander downhill to damp lake-beds.
B. adj.
Resembling or characteristic of a Titan (sense A. 2b), esp. in size or power; titanic, gigantic. Now somewhat rare.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > huge
unmeeteOE
unmeetlyOE
hugea1275
hideousc1330
infinitec1385
unmeasureda1398
unmeasurablec1405
hugyc1420
immeasurable1440
ingentc1450
unmeetlyc1450
giant1480
immense1490
monstrous?a1513
unmeasurely1513
hugeousa1529
unportable1537
enormous1544
enormc1560
giantly1561
immensible1579
rouncival1582
dismeasured1584
vast1585
immeasured1590
gargantuan1596
omnipotent1596
colossian1601
immane1601
prodigious1601
Polyphemian1602
Titanian1603
titanical1603
gigantical1604
immensive1604
gigantine1605
colossic1607
gigantean1611
Gogmagotical1612
gigantal?1614
Babylonian1617
leviathan1625
titanic1628
elephantine1631
gigantive1638
colossean1644
decumanal1652
immensurate1654
gigant1658
decuman1659
colossal1664
abnormous1710
Brobdingnagian1728
Brobdingnag1731
Pantagruelian1737
heroic1785
Patagonian1786
seven-league1787
Titan1793
gigantic1797
seven-leagued1799
mammoth1801
dimensionless1813
tremendous1813
gigantesque1821
monster1837
titanesque1838
monstre1840
giantlike1847
leviathanic1848
pythonic1851
Babylonic1853
supercolossal1871
giantesque1909
behemothian1910
supergiant1919
ginormous1942
big-ass1945
Ozymandian1961
fuck-off1962
mega1968
humongous1970
monstro1970
big-assed1972
big-arsed1996
1793 Gen. Evening Post 31 Dec. Anarchy's infuriate brood..With Titan rage blaspheming try Their impious battle 'gainst the sky.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xx. 139 The Titan obelisk of the Matterhorn.
1908 U. Sinclair Moneychangers xvii. 228 The bare figures were eloquent to him of many tragedies... He could read in them the story of a Titan struggle.
1944 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Sept. 449/2 Swift's titan pride, his fury of independence, his baulked sense of power..are all there.
2000 Sunday Tel. (Sydney) 7 May (Body & Soul section) 18/2 You work for a control freak of titan proportions.
Phrases
clash of (the) Titans: a contest between powerful and evenly matched people, groups, forces, etc.; an epic or titanic struggle. Frequently in somewhat hyperbolical use, esp. in sporting contexts. [With allusion to the battle of the Titans in Greek mythology (Hellenistic Greek Τιτανομαχία : see Titanomachy n.).] The phrase was popularized by the 1981 film Clash of the Titans.
ΚΠ
1904 National Mag. Apr. 80/1 It is not the struggle of a giant and a pigmy; it is the mighty clash of Titans.
1927 Social Forces 6 203/1 In the presence of this clash of the titans it is nothing short of pitiful to see a bewildered adolescent intellectualism.
1964 N.Y. Times 24 Aug. 30/6 This had to be the most amazing baseball turnout of the season. Naturally enough..the clash of the titans was postponed.
1996 Daily Star 26 Feb. 40/1 United blitzed Bolton 6–0 to set up a clash of the titans with Kevin Keegan's Magpies at St James's Park next Monday.
2009 V. Bzdek Kennedy Legacy vi. 86 Bobby foresaw a clash of the titans in the White House between his strong-willed brother and him.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, parasynthetic, instrumental, and similative (chiefly in sense A. 2b).
ΚΠ
1661 in S. Annesley Morning-exercise at Cripplegate 177 Men are now grown bold, and audacious, and incorrigible in their wickedness, that like a Titan-brood they even threaten Heaven it self with an over-daring impudence.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 385 The Rivals of the Gods, the Titan Race.
1748 T. Blackwell Lett. conc. Mythol. x. 87 He at last vanquished the Titan-Gods and confined them fast bound to a Prison.
1833 G. R. Gray Entomol. Austral. 19 The Titan tailed Spectre, or Diura Titan..is found on shrubs in the scrubby parts of the Colony.
1841 in K. Meadows Heads of People II. 354 A tall, strong-built Titan-sized man, with a very weak struggling puny voice.
1867 R. W. Emerson May-day & Other Pieces 7 Titan-born, to hardy natures Cold is genial and dear.
1904 Speaker 28 May 206/2 The Trip-shake and Tumble-tread of Titan-footed Reels.
1924 Eng. Rev. Aug. 241 Tear down the veil Of mortal flesh, and titan-strong assail The virgins of the stars.
2008 Washington Post (Nexis) 4 Apr. e1 The four teams converging in Tampa for Sunday's semifinals..are led by titan-size talents.
C2.
titan arum n. an araceous plant native to Sumatra, Amorphophallus titanum, known and sometimes cultivated for its enormous solitary inflorescence, which has a long (2.5 metres) tubular spadix and a purplish-red spathe, and smells of rotting flesh; also called corpse flower.
ΚΠ
1962 Amer. Hort. Mag. 41 45/2 In April of 1961 Longwood Gardens was able to display for the first time in its greenhouses a flowering specimen of Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum of Sumatra, often billed incorrectly as ‘the largest flower in the world’.
1976 Hortus Third (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 70/1 [Amorphophallus] Titanum Becc., Titan Arum.
1995 D. Attenborough Private Life of Plants iii. 134 If an inflorescence may be regarded as a single flower, as it is, surely, by those without botanical inhibitions, then that produced by the titan arum must surely be the largest flower in the world.
2006 Glow (Canada) Dec. 53/1 Fragrance researchers from around the globe have gathered to gush about the rare blooming of the Titan arum—also known as the ‘corpse flower’.
Derivatives
ˈTitan-like adv. and adj. (a) adv. in the manner of a Titan (sense A. 2b); (b) adj. resembling or characteristic of a Titan (sense A. 2b); titanic, gigantic.
ΚΠ
1608 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 72 Whence came this Courage (Titan-like) So many Hils to heap vpon a rick?
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) ii. 223 Cromwel, that Imp of Satan, compounded of all Vice and Violence, and Titan-like Courage.
1791 tr. Mignonneau Interesting Consid. Public Affairs France 155 This Titan-like work [sc. Cherbourg] makes every year the greatest improvement.
1816 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto III cv. 57 Their steep aim, Was, Titan-like, on daring doubts to pile Thoughts which should call down thunder, and the flame Of Heaven.
1855 R. Menzies tr. C. Ullmann Reformers before Reformation II. 29 A Titan-like defiance of God.
2008 Daily Mail (Nexis) 10 June 13 The problem that stands Titan-like at the centre of Ireland's intellectual history.
2011 Esquire (Nexis) Dec. He's greeted like a returning hero by the vast, Titan-like owner.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
titann.2
/ˈtʌɪtn/, U.S. /ˈtaɪtn/ Chemistry and Mineralogy.† 2. A titanium-containing mineral occurring in granitic and metamorphic rocks; = titanite n. 2. Obsolete. rare.
1. The element titanium. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > specific elements > titanium > [noun]
titanite1796
titanium1796
titan1806
menachin1818
titanium sponge1950
1806 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 10 Science 17 Rutilite. Calcareo-siliceous titan ore of Kirwan.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Titan, Titanium, a metal of modern discovery.
1855 Jrnl. Ceylon Branch Royal Asiatic Soc. 2 iii. App. p. cxix (table) In this general collection, there are about 100 specimens of Rock Crystal... Titan Ore. Arsenite of Nickel. [etc.]
1921 Chem. Trade Jrnl. 9 Apr. 476/1 Zinc white remains a popular opponent of the lead tribe, and technical chemistry is greatly indebted to the men who have so ably experimented with the titan white.
1989 Metals Abstr. 22 197/2 Titania—silica beads prepared by vapor-phase hydrolysis of titan alkoxide adsorbed on silica beads.
2015 F. Cronjé in G. L. Ribeiro et al. Social, Polit. & Cultural Challenges of BRICS i. 178 The refinement of titan (South Africa is worldwide one of the biggest sources for un-refined titan ore).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > nesosilicates > [noun] > subsaturate group > sphene or titanite
spinthere1805
sphene1815
ligurite1816
titanite1816
semeline1836
greenovite1840
grothite1867
titanomorphite1880
titan1882
1882 Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (new ed.) IV. 382/2 Titan,..a calcarerous earth; titanite.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1adj.a1413
n.21806