Etymologically
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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
  • 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