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Added 9 October 2026

deluge

/ˈdɛl.juː(d)ʒ/ noun

In Latin: dīluviēs, dīluvium, abluvium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about deluge at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A great flood or rain.
The deluge continued for hours, drenching the land and slowing traffic to a halt.
An overwhelming amount of something; anything that overwhelms or causes great destruction.
The rock concert was a deluge of sound.
A system for flooding or drenching a space, container, or area with water in an emergency to prevent or extinguish a fire.
deluge system, deluge gun, deluge set

verb

To flood with water.
Some areas were deluged with a month's worth of rain in 24 hours.
To overwhelm.
After the announcement, they were deluged with requests for more information.

Origin

From Middle English deluge, from Old French deluge, alteration of earlier deluvie, from Latin dīluvium, from dīluō (“wash away”). Doublet of diluvium.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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