Tower of Babel

proper noun

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.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

Tower of Babel1

proper nounthe Tower of Babel
  1. biblicalA 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.
nounTower of Babel (plural Towers of Babel)

plural Towers of Babel

  1. figurativelyA visionary and impractical plan.
  2. Alternative letter-case form of tower of Babel.

tower of Babel2

nountower of Babel (plural towers of Babel)

plural towers of Babel · alternative Tower of Babel

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

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
project

Origin

From the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بُرْج بَابِل
  • بُرْج بَابِل (burj bābil)tower erected at Babel
Basque Babelgo dorrea
  • Babelgo dorreatower erected at Babel
Bulgarian Вавило́нска ку́ла, вавило́нско стълпотворе́ние
  • Вавило́нска ку́ла (Vavilónska kúla)tower erected at Babel
  • вавило́нско стълпотворе́ние (vavilónsko stălpotvorénie)situation of confusion due to many languages
Catalan Torre de Babel
  • Torre de Babeltower erected at Babel
Chinese Mandarin 巴別塔 /巴别塔, 通天塔
  • 巴別塔 /巴别塔 (Bābiétǎ)tower erected at Babel
  • 通天塔 (Tōngtiāntǎ)tower erected at Babel
Danish Babelstårnet
  • Babelstårnettower erected at Babel
Dutch toren van Babel, toren van Babel
  • toren van Babeltower erected at Babel
  • toren van Babelsituation of confusion due to many languages
Esperanto Babela turo
  • Babela turotower erected at Babel
Finnish Baabelin torni, Baabelin torni
  • Baabelin tornitower erected at Babel
  • Baabelin tornisituation of confusion due to many languages
French tour de Babel, tour de Babel
  • tour de Babeltower erected at Babel
  • tour de Babelsituation of confusion due to many languages
German Turmbau zu Babel
  • Turmbau zu Babeltower erected at Babel
Greek Πύργος της Βαβέλ
  • Πύργος της Βαβέλ (Pýrgos tis Vavél)tower erected at Babel
Hebrew מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל
  • מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל (migdál bavél)tower erected at Babel
Irish Túr Bháibil
  • Túr Bháibiltower erected at Babel
Italian Torre di Babele
  • Torre di Babeletower erected at Babel
Japanese バベルの塔
  • バベルの塔 (Baberu no tō)tower erected at Babel
Korean 바벨탑, 바벨의 탑
  • 바벨탑tower erected at Babel
  • 바벨의 탑 (Baber-ui tap)tower erected at Babel
Latin Turris Babel
  • Turris Babeltower erected at Babel
Latvian Bābeles tornis
  • Bābeles tornistower erected at Babel
Lithuanian Babelio bokštas
  • Babelio bokštastower erected at Babel
Persian برج بابل
  • برج بابل (borj-e bâbel)tower erected at Babel
Polish wieża Babel, wieża Babel
  • wieża Babeltower erected at Babel
  • wieża Babelsituation of confusion due to many languages
Portuguese Torre de Babel
  • Torre de Babeltower erected at Babel
Romanian Turnul Babel
  • Turnul Babeltower erected at Babel
Russian Вавило́нская ба́шня, вавило́нское столпотворе́ние
  • Вавило́нская ба́шня (Vavilónskaja bášnja)tower erected at Babel
  • вавило́нское столпотворе́ние (vavilónskoje stolpotvorénije)situation of confusion due to many languages
Slovak babylonská veža
  • babylonská vežatower erected at Babel
Spanish Torre de Babel, torre de Babel
  • Torre de Babeltower erected at Babel
  • torre de Babelsituation of confusion due to many languages
Swedish Babels torn
  • Babels torntower erected at Babel
Tagalog Tore ng Babel
  • Tore ng Babeltower erected at Babel
Thai หอคอยบาเบล
  • หอคอยบาเบล (hɔ̌ɔ-kɔɔi baa-been)tower erected at Babel
Turkish Babil Kulesi
  • Babil Kulesitower erected at Babel
Ukrainian Вавило́нська ве́жа
  • Вавило́нська ве́жа (Vavylónsʹka véža)tower erected at Babel
Urdu بابل کا برج
  • بابل کا برج (bābil kā burj)tower erected at Babel
Cite this entry
APA

Tower of Babel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tower%20of%20Babel

MLA

“Tower of Babel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tower%20of%20Babel. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tower of Babel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tower%20of%20Babel.

Source: Tower of Babel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.