An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A person or thing of unusually great size, power, importance. In astronomy, e.g. → giant star, → giant branch, → red giant, → asymptotic giant branch (AGB), → blue supergiant, → blue giant, → gas giant, → giant H II region, → giant impact hypothesis, → giant magnetoresistance (GMR), → giant molecular cloud (GMC), → giant planet, → Li-rich giant, → subgiant, → supergiant.

Etymology (EN): From O.Fr. géant, from V.L. *gagantem, from L. gigas “giant,” from Gk. gigas (gen. gigantos), huge and savage monsters, children of Gaia and Uranus, who fought the Olympians but were eventually destroyed by the gods, probably from a pre-Gk. language.
The Gk. word was used in Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures) to refer to men of great size and strength, hence the expanded use in Western languages.

Etymology (PE): Qul “an imaginary hideous demon, supposed to devour men and animals,” Pers. word probably related to Skt. grábha- “a demon causing diseases, one who seizes,”
grahila- “possessed by a demon,” from grah-, grabh- “to seize, take,” graha “seizing, holding, perceiving,” Av./O.Pers. grab- “to take, seize;” Mid.Pers. griftan; Mod.Pers. gereftan “to take, seize;” cf. M.L.G. grabben “to grab,” from P.Gmc. *grab, E. grab “to take or grasp suddenly;” PIE base *ghrebh- “to seize.”
Qulpeykar, from qul, as explained, + peykar “figure, form, body” (from Mid.Pers. pahikar “picture, image;” from O.Pers. patikara- “picture, (sculpted) likeness,” from patiy “against” (Av. paiti; Skt. prati; Gk. poti/proti + kara- “doer, maker,” from kar- “to do, make, build;” Av. kar-; Skt. kr-; cf. Skt. pratikrti- “an image, likeness, model; counterpart”).
Qulâsâ, from qul + suffix of nature, relation -âsâ, → -aceous.
Kalân “great, large, big, bulky.”