Phrase guide

Tower of Babel

name · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

name

Meaning 1

A tower erected at Babel by the descendants of Noah's son Ham to reach the sky, and whose completion God thwarted by making the workers speak different languages so that they were unable to understand one another.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biblical, lifestyle, religion

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A visionary and impractical plan.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Alternative letter-case form of tower of Babel.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A situation where the use of many different languages is a source of confusion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

(Genesis 11:1-11) a tower built by Noah's descendants (probably in Babylon) who intended it to reach up to heaven; God foiled them by confusing their language so they could no longer understand one another

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Babel

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ziggurat, zikkurat, zikurat

History

Etymology

From the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel.

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: Kulla e Babelit — tower erected at Babel
  • Amharic: የባቢሎን ግንብ (yäbabilon gənb) — tower erected at Babel
  • Arabic: بُرْج بَابِل (burj bābil) — tower erected at Babel
  • Armenian: Բաբելոնյան աշտարակ (Babelonyan aštarak) — tower erected at Babel
  • Asturian: Torre de Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Basque: Babelgo dorrea — tower erected at Babel
  • Bulgarian: Вавило́нска ку́ла (Vavilónska kúla) — tower erected at Babel
  • Catalan: Torre de Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 巴別塔 /巴别塔 (Bă-biĕk-ták) — tower erected at Babel
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巴別塔 /巴别塔 (bābiétǎ) — tower erected at Babel
  • Crimean Tatar: Babil qullesi — tower erected at Babel
  • Danish: Babelstårnet — tower erected at Babel
  • Dutch: toren van Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Esperanto: Babela turo — tower erected at Babel
  • Finnish: Baabelin torni — tower erected at Babel
  • French: tour de Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Galician: Torre de Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Georgian: ბაბილონის გოდოლი (babilonis godoli) — tower erected at Babel
  • German: Turmbau zu Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Greek: Πύργος της Βαβέλ (Pýrgos tis Vavél) — tower erected at Babel
  • Hebrew: מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל (migdál bavél) — tower erected at Babel
  • Irish: Túr Bháibil — tower erected at Babel
  • Italian: Torre di Babele — tower erected at Babel
  • Japanese: バベルの塔 (Baberu no tō) — tower erected at Babel
  • Korean: 바벨탑 — tower erected at Babel
  • Korean: 바벨의 탑 (Baber-ui tap) — tower erected at Babel
  • Latin: Turris Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Latvian: Bābeles tornis — tower erected at Babel
  • Lithuanian: Babelio bokštas — tower erected at Babel
  • Occitan: Torre de Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Persian: برج بابل (borj-e bâbel) — tower erected at Babel
  • Polish: wieża Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Portuguese: Torre de Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Romanian: Turnul Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Russian: Вавило́нская ба́шня (Vavilónskaja bášnja) — tower erected at Babel
  • Sicilian: Turri di Babbeli — tower erected at Babel
  • Slovak: babylonská veža — tower erected at Babel
  • Spanish: Torre de Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Sranan Tongo: Toren fu Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Swedish: Babels torn — tower erected at Babel
  • Tagalog: Tore ng Babel — tower erected at Babel
  • Thai: หอคอยบาเบล (hɔ̌ɔ-kɔɔi baa-been) — tower erected at Babel
  • Turkish: Babil Kulesi — tower erected at Babel
  • Ukrainian: Вавило́нська ве́жа (Vavylónsʹka véža) — tower erected at Babel
  • Urdu: بابل کا برج (bābil kā burj) — tower erected at Babel
  • Bulgarian: вавило́нско стълпотворе́ние (vavilónsko stǎlpotvorénie) — situation of confusion due to many languages
  • Dutch: toren van Babel — situation of confusion due to many languages
  • Finnish: Baabelin torni — situation of confusion due to many languages
  • French: tour de Babel — situation of confusion due to many languages
  • Polish: wieża Babel — situation of confusion due to many languages
  • Russian: вавило́нское столпотворе́ние (vavilónskoje stolpotvorénije) — situation of confusion due to many languages
  • Spanish: torre de Babel — situation of confusion due to many languages