titano-, titan-

1. A family of mythological giants who were said to have ruled the world before the gods of Mount Olympus: TheTitans were the earliest group of powerful gods in Greek mythology.
2. A very large and incontestable company, person, etc.: A titan is a giant in any field of endeavor, a person of outstanding ability who towers above all of the others in his or her field.

There are several national and multinational titans who are competing to control the economies of the world.

A titan is someone of outstanding achievement, tremendous strength, or of colossal size.

3. The planet Saturn has 23 satellites around it and the biggest one is in the Solar System: The largest satellite is Titan, which is said to be 3,180 miles (5,119 kilometers) in diameter.

1. Descriptive of a person who is of great size, strength, or achievement: A Titanesque god was considered to be of enormous size, power, influence, etc.
2. When not capitalized, it refers to someone whose power, achievement, intellect, or physical size is extraordinarily impressive: At 60, Jack LaLanne swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat; then when he was 70, handcuffed and shackled again, he towed 70 boats, carrying a total of 70 people, a mile and a half through Long Beach Harbor proving his titanesque capabilities.

1. When capitalized, the female members of the older gods who preceded the Olympians and were the children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth): The Titanesses were also of great strength and size just as their brothers were.
2. When not capitalized, a woman of very great strength, intellect, or importance: More and more women in our modern times are becoming titanesses as they take the places of men in politics, businesses, and other areas of authority.

The name of a giant British luxury liner which was the biggest in existence at the time in 1911: The White Star liner, Titanic, was on its maiden voyage when it sank into the North Atlantic Ocean after it had collided with an iceberg on April 14-15, 1912 with the loss of approximately 1,500 lives.

The great ship, at that time, was the largest and most luxurious afloat and it was thought to be so large and so advanced as to be unsinkable.

Referring to anything that is of great size, power, or force: Jack LaLanne, whose obsession with grueling workouts and good nutrition, complemented by a salesman’s gift, brought him recognition as the founder of the modern titanic physical-fitness movement.

There was a titanic explosion in the sauna of a local fitness studio that almost completely destroyed the building.

Many titanic efforts were made to save passengers of the recent sinking of a Korean ferry.

Anything that is described as "gigantic" may also apply to being titanic as illustrated in the cartoon below.

© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

Descriptive of being of great size, strength, or power: Jack LaLanne, known as the fitness guru, was considered to have titanically powerful muscles as a result of working out so often with weights, swimming, and other physical activities every day.

As a titanically equipped person, LaLanne performed multiple feats of strength and endurance. His first presentation was an underwater swim in 1954 covering the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, loaded with 140 pounds of equipment.

Jack went on to stage for many additional titanically attention-getting events, including completing over a thousand pushups in a little over 20 minutes, and towing 65 boats filled with thousands of pounds of wood pulp in Japan.

A reference to rocks and minerals that contain or yield special transition metals: The titaniferous elements in the earth's crust are the main sources of a hard silver-gray metal used when producing strong, light, and corrosion resistant alloys.

Rebelliousness, defiance, or rebellion against an established or constituted authority: The Titanism in Greek mythology consisted of the struggles of the Titans against the Olympian gods.

A very strong and light silvery metal: Highly valued for its favorable ratio of strength to weight, titanium is a silvery solid or dark gray substance that is used in alloys, in powder metallurgy, and in the production of pure hydrogen.

As a metal, titanium is used to make strong, light, corrosion-resistant alloys (a mixture of two or more metals and a non-metal) with high melting points; that is, those that are used in aircraft wings, artificial hips, heart pacemakers, golf clubs, and jewelry.

Gigantic and violent warfare: Some wars have been titanomachies in that they were so huge and destructive that it took a great deal of effort to re-establish some degree of normalcy for the nations to recover.

The term titanomachy is based on the furious battles that took place between the Titans and the Olympian gods as expressed in Greek mythology.

1. A huge herbivorous (plant eater) dinosaur of the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods: The Titanosaurs were found particularly in South America.
2. Etymology: from modern Latin Titanosaurus, genus name; from Greek Titan, "giant gods" + therion, "wild beast".

Paleontologists in Argentina’s remote Patagonia region have discovered fossils of what was likely the largest dinosaur ever to roam the earth

Giant lizards: Despite their name, some Titanosaurids were quite small.

Unhappily, most Titanosaurids are known from very incomplete remains and they are believed to have lived during the Late Cretaceous period.

The Titanosaurid was previously called the "Magyarosaurus" and it was named by British paleontologist Richard Lydekker in 1885.

A giant herbivorous creature which is believed to have existed from Late Cretaceous Europe, India, Indochina, and Argentina: The Titanosaurus was named by British paleontologist Richard Lydekker in 1877; however, it is considered to be a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs.

The Titanosaurus

1. A large mammal similar to a rhinoceros: The titanothere once lived in North America during the Tertiary Period (Middle 20th century).
2. Etymology: from modern Latin Titanotherium, from Greek Titan, "Titan" + therion, "wild beast".

An extinct species of ungulates from the Tertiary formation, resembling gigantic rhinoceroses: The titanotherium is a creature whose name means "titanic beast".