big

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɪɡ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English big, bigge,^[2][3] a word of obscure origin first found chiefly in texts from northern England and the north Midlands.^[4][3][5] It is perhaps from a Scandinavian source;^[6][7][4] the dictionaries compare Norwegian bugge (“strong man, important man”),^[7][3][8] and Merriam-Webster and Webster's Third call a Scandinavian origin probable.^[9][10] Weekley notes the personal name Bicga in the 11th century and links it with the name Bucga and with the Norwegian word.^[11] Partridge and Hendrickson mention a connection with Latin bucca (“puffed-out cheek”), the basic idea being “puffed up”, but present it only as a possibility.^[12][13] Johnson recorded the older guesses of Junius (from Greek) and Skinner (from Danish bug (“belly”)).^[14] Old English used micel (see much) in many of the same senses.^[4] The dialect verb big “to build” is a different word, inherited from Middle English biggen, borrowed from Old Norse byggja (“to build, dwell”).^[9][15][16]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of persons and animals, strong, sturdy, powerful (about 1300, in Havelok).^[17][3][18]

Semantic evolution

Big was rare before 1400.^[7][3] The general sense “of great size, large” appears about 1380, in Patience and Pearl, and soon after in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde;^[17] the OED and the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins treat these early examples as doubtful, finding clear cases of mere size only in the 15th century.^[18][19] The sense “full-grown” also dates from the late 14th century, and “important, influential, powerful” from about 1400.^[4] Big for a pregnant woman is recorded from 1535,^[20] as in Lyly's “I went a whole year big” (1580);^[21] of the voice, “loud, full”, from 1549.^[20] The meaning “haughty, inflated with pride” dates from the 1570s,^[4] and talking and looking big, boastful, from the early 17th century.^[21][22] The sense “elder”, as in big brother, is first found in 1809,^[20][19] and Orwell's Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) soon came to mean any organization exercising total control.^[19] The sense “generous”, often ironic (that's big of you), is American from about 1910;^[20][4] “popular, famous” dates from 1954.^[20] Phrases include big game (1864), big top (1895), big business (1913), big band (1926) and big-ticket (1956).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – strong, sturdy, in Havelok.^[17][3]
• c. 1380 – of great size, in Patience and Pearl.^[17]
• c. 1400 – important, powerful; comes into general use.^[4]
• 1535 – pregnant.^[20]
• 1563 – as an adverb.^[7][18]
• 1570s – haughty, proud.^[4]
• 1809 – elder, in big brother.^[20]
• 1833 – as a noun, an important person.^[9][20]
• 1864 – big game.^[4]
• 1910 – generous (US).^[20]
• 1949 – Big Brother, in Orwell.^[19]
• 1954 – popular, famous.^[20]
• 1992 – big up, to praise (slang).^[20]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of great size, amount, number or extent; large.
2. Of great force: a big storm.
3. Grown-up; of a sibling, older: my big brother.
4. Pregnant, especially near the time of birth.
5. Important, influential or powerful: a big name.
6. Of great significance; momentous: a big decision.
7. Self-important; boastful.
8. Of the voice, loud and full.
9. (informal) Generous, often used ironically: that's big of you.
10. (informal) Popular or successful.
11. Of wine, full-bodied.

Adverb

1. Boastfully: talk big.
2. With great success: won big.
3. On a large scale: think big.

Noun

1. (informal) An important person or organization; in the plural, the major leagues.

Verb

1. (slang) To praise or promote (big up).

Word family

• biggish
• bigly
• bigness

Related words

• much
• boast
• bug
• large
• great

Usage notes

Random House treats big, great and large as near synonyms, with little as the opposite.^[23]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
13. ^ Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
16. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
17. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
18. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
19. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
21. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
22. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1898), Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, new ed., London: Cassell
23. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House