Other forms: titans
A titan is one of the giant elder gods of Greek myth. The war of the titans, a titan of the old world, Cronus and the titans.
In the myth the Titans were the generation before the Olympians and were overthrown by them. Figuratively, a titan is somebody of enormous stature in a field: a titan of industry, a literary titan. Titanic means enormous, and the ship was named for exactly that. Note titanium, the metal, named after the Titans for its strength, and clash of the titans, meaning a contest between two giants.
1nountitanOne of the giant elder gods of Greek myth.
“The titan was chained to a rock for about three thousand years.”
2nounenormousSomebody of enormous stature in a field.
“He was a titan of the industry and completely impossible to work for.”
titan is a giant figure.
Greek Titan is the name of the elder gods, and its own origin is unknown even in Greek. Everything else in the family — titanic, titanium, Titan the moon of Saturn — was named after them.
From Titan.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA