titanic

titanic · adjective¹

See Titanic.

titanic · adjective²

From titan(ium) + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns), in the case of sense 1 (“of or relating to titanium”) modelled after French titanique.

Titanic · adjective³

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ten-“to extend, stretch”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kʷey-“to pay; to avenge”
3. Ancient Greek · derived fromΤιτανικός“of or relating to the Titans”
4. Late Latin · derived fromTitanicus
5. English todayTitanic

From Late Latin Titanicus, or its etymon Ancient Greek Τιτανικός (Titanikós, “of or relating to the Titans”), from Τιτᾶνες (Titânes, “Titans”) + -ικός (-ikós, “suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives”). Τιτᾶνες (Titânes) is the nominative or vocative plural of Τῑτᾱ́ν (Tītā́n, “a Titan”), and then possibly: * from τῐ́σῐς (tĭ́sĭs, “payment; atonement, penalty, punishment, retribution, reward; vengeance”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- (“to pay; to avenge”); or * from τιταίνω (titaínō, “to extend, stretch”), from τείνω (teínō, “to extend, stretch; to spread; to exert, push to the limit, strain”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to extend, stretch”); or * from τίτο (títo, “sun; day”), originally borrowed from Anatolian. The English word is analyzable as Titan + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns).

Titanic · proper noun, noun⁴

The proper noun is derived from Titanic (etymology 1, adjective senses 1 and 2.1), as the ship was the largest and thought to be the strongest in the world at the time it was constructed. The common noun is derived from the name of the ship.

Words from the same roots