gigas

Gigas is a term that arises from the Greek word gigas, meaning "giant," and has several distinct uses in mythology, language, and science. In Greek mythology, the Gigantes were a race of powerful giants who opposed the Olympian gods in the Gigantomachy. They are depicted in various ways across ancient sources, sometimes as earth-born beings and other times as colossal warriors; the myth has had enduring influence on literature and art.

In linguistic and scholarly contexts, gigas appears as a root meaning "giant" in Greek, from which the Latinized form gigas was adopted in various languages. The singular gigas is found in classical texts and has given rise to the adjective and noun forms in later terminology.

In modern science and technology, the root underpins the SI prefix giga-, used to denote 10^9. This prefix is written giga- and paired with units such as gigabyte, gigahertz, and gigameter. The prefix is not pluralized; the term "gigas" is not used in standard scientific notation to represent a quantity.

In biology and taxonomy, gigas or related forms are commonly used in Latinized species names to signal large size, though usage varies and is not a formal taxonomic rank.

See also: Gigantes (mythology), giga-