deluge
deluge
Pronunciation
IPA Phonetic Spelling and Syllable Breakdown
The most common IPA phonetic spelling (for both US and UK English) is:
/īdɛl.juːdʒī/
Syllable Sounds Breakdown:
The word deluge has two syllables: del-uge
First Syllable: /dɛl/
/d/: The voiced alveolar stop, like the 'd' in day.
/ɛ/: The open-mid front unrounded vowel, like the 'e' in bed.
/l/: The alveolar lateral approximant, like the 'l' in light.
Second Syllable: /juːdʒ/
/j/: The palatal approximant (the 'y' sound), like the 'y' in yes.
/uː/: The close back rounded vowel (a long 'oo' sound), like the 'oo' in blue.
/dʒ/: The voiced post-alveolar affricate, like the 'j' in jump or the 'g' in gem.
Word Form Variations
The word deluge can function as both a noun and a verb.
Noun (Singular): deluge
Noun (Plural): deluges
Verb (Base Form/Infinitive): to deluge
Verb (Third-person singular simple present): deluges (e.g., It deluges)
Verb (Present Participle/Gerund): deluging (e.g., is deluging, deluging rain)
Verb (Simple Past and Past Participle): deluged (e.g., It deluged, has deluged)
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
🔹 Noun
Definition 1 (Literal): A severe and sudden flood or an overwhelming downpour of rain, causing significant inundation.
Synonyms: flood, inundation, downpour, torrent, cloudburst.
Antonyms: drought, trickle, drizzle, shortage, scarcity.
Definition 2 (Figurative): An overwhelming rush or excessive quantity of anything that arrives simultaneously or in rapid succession.
Synonyms: barrage, avalanche, torrent, spate, flood, rush.
Antonyms: dearth, deficit, scarcity, lack, trickle, sprinkling.
🔹 Verb (Transitive)
Definition 1 (Literal): To thoroughly flood, soak, or cover a place with a great quantity of water.
Synonyms: flood, inundate, submerge, drown, swamp, drench.
Antonyms: drain, dry, dehydrate, parch.
Definition 2 (Figurative): To overwhelm, overrun, or completely engross someone with a massive number or amount of things (such as requests, mail, or work).
Synonyms: overwhelm, inundate, swamp, overload, engulf, bombard.
Antonyms: underwhelm, relieve, spare, clear, moderate.
Examples of Use
📰 Print and Online News Publications
Noun (Literal): "Authorities in the state issued flood warnings after a sudden, torrential deluge submerged roads and caused landslides in hillside communities."
Noun (Figurative): "Following the viral social media post, the small business was unprepared for the sudden deluge of orders that overwhelmed its fulfillment capabilities." (Forbes, March 2023)
Verb: "Financial analysts predict that the market will soon be deluged by a wave of new tech IPOs as interest rates stabilize."
📚 Books and Literature
Noun (Figurative): "He tried to keep his composure, but the sheer deluge of questions from the reporters after the press conference left him speechless." (From a work of contemporary fiction)
Verb: "The constant ringing of the telephone seemed to deluge her small, quiet apartment with the noise and demands of the outside world."
📺 Entertainment and Media Platforms
Noun (Figurative/Review): "Despite the promising trailer, the final installment was met with a deluge of negative critical reviews, sinking its box office potential." (Film Review, September 2024)
Verb (Gaming/Online Content): "Gamers were asked to be patient as the studio worked to fix the server errors caused by the massive number of players who deluged the platform on launch day." (Twitch Streamer commentary, May 2023)
🗣️ General Public Discourse and Speech
Noun (Literal/Weather): "We had to cancel the outdoor concert because of the absolute deluge—the field turned into a mud pit in minutes."
Verb (Figurative/Social Media): "My friend’s baby announcement instantly deluged her with hundreds of congratulatory messages and heart emojis across all her feeds."
10 Famous Quotes Using Deluge
"Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge." (Horace Mann)
"The Deluge: A punishment inflicted on the human race by an all-knowing God, who, through not having foreseen the wickedness of men, repented of having made them, and drowned them once for all to make them better—an act which, as we all know, was accompanied by the greatest success." (Voltaire)
"You can remember, a single deluge only, but there were many previous ones." (Plato)
"In our days a deluge, not of water but of sins, continually inundates the earth, and out of this deluge very few escape." (Alphonsus Liguori)
"Those entrapped by the herd instinct are drowned in the deluges of history." (Jackson Browne, from the song Before The Deluge)
"He was dreaming of a refined solitude, a comfortable desert, a motionless ark in which to seek refuge from the unending deluge of human stupidity." (Joris-Karl Huysmans)
"To pass to the deluge, and beyond it, and to come to close quarters with our proper division, the origin of Romance itself is a very debatable subject, or rather it is a subject which the wiser mind will hardly care to debate much." (George Saintsbury)
"Oh! what waves of crime and bloodshed have swept like the waves of a deluge down the valley of the Rhine!" (Bayard Taylor)
"Personally, I find visualisations great for helping me understand the world and for sifting the huge amounts of information that deluge me every day." (David McCandless)
"The media and marketing deluge has spawned a new type of Wall Street loser: the armchair momentum player." (Gary Weiss)
Etymology
The word "deluge" has a straightforward history rooted in Latin words associated with washing and water.
Latin Roots: The ultimate source is the Latin word īdīluviumī, which literally meant "a flood" or "inundation." This word itself was built from two parts:
īdī-ī: A prefix meaning "away" or "apart."
ī-luereī: A verb root meaning "to wash."
So, the original concept was literally a "washing away."
Old French Influence: This Latin term passed into Old French as īdelugeī (and sometimes as īdeluvieī). This is the form that solidified the modern spelling.
Entry into English: The word entered Middle English from Old French sometime around the 14th century (specifically, 1325-1375).
First Known Use and Meaning
First Known Meaning: When the word entered English, its primary and most significant meaning was a literal "great flood" or "inundation of water."
Initial Significance: It was heavily associated with the Biblical Great Flood—often capitalized as "The Deluge"—which recounts Noah's Ark and the overwhelming destruction of the world by water. This gave the word a sense of catastrophic and world-altering scale.
Modern Shift: The figurative meaning—referring to an "overwhelming amount or rush of anything" other than water (like mail, requests, or information)—developed much later, extending the original sense of being entirely submerged or overwhelmed by a great volume.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Deluge
🌊 Phrases and Idioms Using "Deluge"
After the Deluge (or Après nous le déluge): A French phrase meaning "After us, the flood" or "After us, chaos." It's an expression of careless disregard for what happens after one is gone, often attributed to Madame de Pompadour regarding the eventual fate of the monarchy.
A deluge of information/mail/requests: This is the most common use of the noun, signifying an overwhelming amount of something non-water based.
To be deluged with work/calls: Using the word as a verb to mean being completely overwhelmed or inundated by a massive volume of things.
The (Great) Deluge: A formal or historical reference to the catastrophic flood described in the Book of Genesis.
Before the Deluge: Refers to the time immediately preceding a catastrophe or a major, disruptive event, often the period before the French Revolution.
A deluge of criticism: An extended phrase describing a massive, sudden wave of negative judgment or harsh feedback.
💧 Idioms Using Synonyms (For Similar Effect)
Since "deluge" isn't found in many deeply rooted idioms, here are common idioms using its close synonym, flood, for a similar effect:
To open the floodgates: To remove a restriction, allowing a sudden, large, or overwhelming flow of something to happen.
In a flood of tears: Crying uncontrollably and heavily.
The flood of time: A literary phrase referencing the constant, unending passage of time.
A flood of memories: A sudden, overwhelming rush of recollections.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of deluge from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
