great

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English grete, also gret and greet,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English grēat (“coarse; thick, stout, big”),^{[5][3][4][6][7]} from Proto-Germanic *grautaz.^[8][9][10] It is cognate with Old Frisian grāt (“large”), Old Dutch groot, Middle Dutch groot, Dutch groot, Old Saxon grōt, Old High German grōz, Middle High German grōz and German groß.^{[11][7][5][2]} Most authorities, the OED says, relate it to Old Norse grautr (“groats, porridge, coarse meal”) and to grit, grits, groats and grout, from an Indo-European base meaning "to pound, crush", through the senses "coarsely ground" and "coarse" to "large".^{[11][2][3][10]} Kroonen takes it as a regular o-grade adjective to the strong verb *greutaną (“to crush”), originally meaning "coarse", a sense that shifted to "big" in West Germanic, where the word replaced *mikilaz.^[8] Etymonline gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *ghreu- (“to rub, grind”), but quotes the OED that "the connexion is not free from difficulty".^[5][10] The OED also reports the objection that the sense "coarse" is rare in Old English and poorly attested in the other West Germanic languages, where "large, thick, fat" prevails,^[11] and Hoad and the Shorter Oxford call it of unknown origin.^[6][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Big, coarse, stout: before 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius.^[7] The OED's earliest Old English senses are "having a coarse grain", "thick, of large girth" and "of more than average size".^[11]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the main word for "large" was mickle, and great mostly meant "stout, thick"; in Middle English it broadened and gradually took over from mickle, but in modern English it has in turn given way to big and large, except of things that are not material.^[10][5][7] The sense "pregnant" dates from the 12th century, and "important, eminent" from the 13th.^[6][3] The use of great for relatives one generation further removed follows French grand,^[6] and Weekley notes that it is later than the use of grand;^[13] great-uncle is recorded from 1423 and great-grandfather from 1513.^[7] As a general word of praise, "splendid, wonderful", it is first recorded in American English, in Washington Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York (1809).^[7] In Old English there was also a verb grēatian (“to become enlarged”), and Middle English greaten meant "to grow, become visibly pregnant", archaic after the 17th century.^[5][11] Great with someone, on intimate terms, is recorded from 1669, in Pepys, and GDoS labels it Irish.^[14] The OED explains that great is one of a few words, with break, drain and steak, whose Middle English vowel stopped at /eɪ/ instead of moving on to /iː/; pronunciations with /iː/ were reported from the 16th to the 18th century and survive in regional greet.^[11] Barnhart attributes the change to the preceding r.^[7]

Timeline

• before 899 – grēat, big, coarse, stout, in Alfred's translation of Boethius.^[7]
• 1130 – in the place name Greteleia.^[7]
• 12th century – pregnant.^[6]
• before 1200 – grete, big, important, excellent, in Layamon's Brut.^[7]
• 13th century – important, eminent.^[6]
• 1423 – great-uncle.^[7]
• 1513 – great-grandfather.^[7]
• 1669 – great with, on intimate terms with.^[14]
• 1809 – splendid, wonderful, in Washington Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York.^[7] Etymonline dates this sense to 1848.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Large in size or extent; big: a great oak.^[15][3][11]
2. Large in number or amount: a great crowd.^[15]
3. Lasting a long time: a great while.^[15]
4. More than usual; extreme: great pain.^[15]
5. Of real importance or consequence: a great moment in history.^[15][6]
6. Eminent, distinguished, of exceptional talent or achievement: a great painter.^[15][3]
7. Larger than others of its kind, in the names of plants, animals and parts of the body.^[15][11]
8. (informal) Very good, excellent, splendid: We had a great time.^[7][5]
9. Removed by one further generation, in words for relatives such as great-aunt and great-grandson.^[6][13]
10. (archaic) Pregnant.^[3][6]

Noun

1. A person who is outstanding in a field: one of the jazz greats.^[3][15]

Adverb

1. (informal) Very well: The new engine runs great.^[3]

Word family

• greatly
• greatness
• greaten
• great-uncle
• great-grandfather

Related words

• grit
• groats
• grout
• groat
• mickle

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins