babylon

C2+ Topic:Places & Geography

US /ˈbæbəlɑn/ UK /ˈbæbɪlən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an ancient Mesopotamian city, often used for a place of luxury or corruption

To the preacher, the glittering capital was a modern Babylon.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an ancient mesopotamian... metropolis

Word family

Derived forms babylonian

Related forms babylonian

Etymology

From Greek Babylṓn, from Akkadian Bāb-ilim ('gate of the god'); used figuratively for a place of decadence after biblical references to the city.

Babylṓn Ancient Greek Bāb-ilim Akkadian

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Places & Geography

External links

# babylon

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbæbəlɑn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbæbɪlən/

## Meanings
1. an ancient Mesopotamian city, often used for a place of luxury or corruption

## Examples
- To the preacher, the glittering capital was a modern Babylon.

## Synonyms
- metropolis

## Derived Forms
- babylonian

## Related Forms
- babylonian

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: Babylṓn
- Root: Bāb-ilim

## Etymology
From Greek Babylṓn, from Akkadian Bāb-ilim ('gate of the god'); used figuratively for a place of decadence after biblical references to the city.

## AI Etymology
babylon comes from Greek Babylṓn, from Akkadian Bāb-ilim ('gate of the god'); used figuratively for a place of decadence after biblical references to the city. The path is chiefly one of transmission: an older form is taken into English, with the word's shape and meaning carried through the language names and forms preserved in the history. In modern use, the noun sense is "an ancient Mesopotamian city, often used for a place of luxury or corruption", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as babylonian and derivatives such as babylonian, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Ancient Greek Babylṓn, Akkadian Bāb-ilim, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Places & Geography

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