Plural of colossus; multiple gigantic statues, figures, or things of enormous size and importance.
From Latin 'colossus,' derived from Greek 'kolossos,' possibly from Egyptian sources. The term originally referred specifically to the Colossus of Rhodes but expanded to mean any enormous structure or person.
The word 'colossus' originally meant one specific thing—that giant Statue of Rhodes built in 280 BCE—but it became so famous that people started using the word for ANY enormous impressive thing, which is how language spreads new meanings.
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