Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or suggestive of a Cyclops.
  • adjective Very big; huge.
  • adjective Of or constituting a primitive style of masonry characterized by the use of massive stones of irregular shape and size.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to, or exhibiting the characteristics of, any of the legendary Cyclopes.
  • Vast; gigantic: applied to an early style of masonry, sometimes imitated in later ages, constructed of stones either unhewn or more or less irregularly shaped and fitted together, usually polygonal, but in some more recent examples approaching regular horizontal courses, and often presenting joints of very perfect workmanship. Such masonry was fabled to be the work of the Cyclopes. It is remarkable for the immense size of the stones commonly employed, and was most frequently used for the walls of cities and fortresses. The walls of Tiryns, near Nauplia, in Greece, mentioned by Homer, are a good specimen of Cyclopean masonry. The remains of these walls consist of three courses, of which the stones, measuring from 6 to 9 feet long, from 3 to 4 feet wide, and from 2 to 3 feet deep, are rudely shaped, irregular masses piled on one another. Examples of Cyclopean work occur in Greece, Italy, Asia Minor, and elsewhere. The more primitive Cyclopean masonry in Greece, roughly built of stones entirely unhewn, the spaces between the larger stones being filled with smaller ones, is often termed Pelasgic.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to the Cyclops; characteristic of the Cyclops; huge; gigantic; vast and rough; massive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Suggestive of a cyclops.
  • adjective masonry Fitted together of huge irregular stones.
  • adjective Massive in stature.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or relating to or resembling the Cyclops

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The cyclopean has been a /shite/ chancellor, he might be okay at math but has the economic grasp of a 10 year old, he never realises the human ramifications of his policies, he is the very definition of the C word you will not let me use here.

    Gordon Brown Meets the Ten Year Olds 2007

  • The only form of the arch observed, is that called the cyclopean arch, which is made by one course of stones overlapping another, till the two walls meet, and

    Incentives to the Study of the Ancient Period of American History An address, delivered before the New York Historical Society, at its forty-second anniversary, 17th November 1846 Henry Rowe Schoolcraft 1828

  • As far as I know there is not an exact Danish match to "cyclopean" but I would say a good substitute would be "enormt."

    Dark Tales : The Lovecraft News Network 2009

  • As far as I know there is not an exact Danish match to "cyclopean" but I would say a good substitute would be "enormt."

    Archive 2009-11-01 2009

  • Do you ever lay awake at night dreaming of ways to introduce the word "cyclopean" into everyday speech?

    The Lovecraft News Network 2009

  • It seems that this latter material was mostly used in the almost "cyclopean" defensive walls of Düzen, while smaller beige limestone bocks were used for walls of buildings.

    Interactive Dig Sagalassos - Geological Survey Report 1 2003

  • Bellegra, a prehistoric fastness with some traces of "cyclopean" defences.

    Alone Norman Douglas 1910

  • It boasts the conventional prison gateway, the solid-looking, nail-studded door, the low, worn archway which the better deserves the qualification "cyclopean," because the jailer's peephole or _judas_ looks out like a single eye from the front of the building.

    Lost Illusions Honor�� de Balzac 1824

  • It boasts the conventional prison gateway, the solid-looking, nail-studded door, the low, worn archway which the better deserves the qualification "cyclopean," because the jailer's peephole or _judas_ looks out like a single eye from the front of the building.

    Eve and David Honor�� de Balzac 1824

  • The engineering difficulties were great, the dredging and filling a cyclopean task.

    Chapter XX 2010

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  • In his introduction to The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft Neil Gaiman talks about Lovecraft-inspired stories he's written and says of one of them - I quote from memory - that 'you can tell it's Lovecraftian, because I use the word cyclopean in it'.

    October 23, 2007

  • "Will not need wrecking crew(s)" in the shorthand code of railway telegraphers. --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.

    January 21, 2013