colossus

noun

co·​los·​sus kə-ˈlä-səs How to pronounce colossus (audio)
plural colossi kə-ˈlä-ˌsī How to pronounce colossus (audio)
1
: a statue of gigantic size and proportions
2
: a person or thing of immense size or power

Did you know?

The original colossi (notice the plural form) were the larger-than-life statues made by the Greeks and Romans. The most famous of these was the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the sun god Helios built on the Greek island of Rhodes around 280 B.C. that was over 100 feet tall and took more than 12 years to build. The Statue of Liberty is a modern colossus, enormous and stately, at the entrance to New York Harbor. And someone who has played a colossal role in history, such as Winston Churchill, may be called a colossus as well.

Examples of colossus in a Sentence

The building is a colossus of steel and glass. Leonardo da Vinci remains a colossus in the history of art.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The semiconductor colossus has revealed a decision to cut 410 jobs in the Bay Area during July, according to official WARN notices that Intel filed with the state Employment Development Department. Boston Herald Wire Services, Boston Herald, 12 July 2025 Topline After becoming the world’s first-ever $4 trillion company Wednesday, the scope of artificial intelligence colossus Nvidia’s size is hard to grasp, as the less than 40,000-person company is now worth more than 97% of the world’s economies and all of the world’s military spending. Derek Saul, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025 In South Africa, the continent’s economic colossus, small-scale solar now provides, by his reckoning, nearly a fifth the capacity of the national grid. Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 9 July 2025 Vexing because, for me, as for a lot of my writer peers, Beckett is a colossus—worthy of the highest regard. Deborah Treisman, New Yorker, 22 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for colossus

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from Greek kolossos

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of colossus was before the 12th century

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Cite this Entry

“Colossus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colossus. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

colossus

noun
co·​los·​sus kə-ˈläs-əs How to pronounce colossus (audio)
plural colossi -ˈläs-ˌī How to pronounce colossus (audio)
1
: a huge statue
2
: a person or thing of great size or power
Etymology

from Latin colossus "huge statue, colossus"

More from Merriam-Webster on colossus

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