gross

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɡrəʊs/, US /ɡroʊs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English grosse (“large”), borrowed from Old French gros (“big, thick, coarse”),^[2][3][4] from Late Latin grossus (“thick, coarse”), a word not found in Classical Latin and of obscure origin.^[2][3] It is perhaps related to Welsh, Cornish and Breton bras “thick, large”, though the vowel is doubtful.^[3][4][2] It is not related to Latin crassus or German groß.^[2] The noun “twelve dozen” is from French grosse douzaine “large dozen”.^[2][5] It is related to engross and grocer.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Large: 1347–50 in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Its meaning forked in English.^[2] From “coarse in texture or quality” came “dull, stupid” (1520s) and “vulgar, coarse in a moral sense” (1530s).^[2] From “general, not in detail” came “entire, total, without deductions” in the early 15th century, as in gross national product (1947).^[2][3] The sense “glaring, flagrant” is from 1581.^[3][2] The modern sense “disgusting” is first recorded in 1958 in American student slang, from its use with unpleasant things such as gross stupidity.^[2] The noun “twelve dozen” is from 1394 in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline,^[3][2][7] and a total, as opposed to net, from 1579 in Spenser's Shepheardes Calender.^[3][4] The verb, to earn as total income, is from 1884, and the slang gross out “to disgust” from 1971.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1347–50 – large.^[3]
• 1394 – twelve dozen.^[3]
• early 15th century – entire, total.^[2]
• 1530s – vulgar.^[2]
• 1581 – flagrant.^[3]
• 1884 – verb, to earn.^[2][3]
• 1958 – disgusting.^[2]
• 1971 – gross out.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Total, before anything is taken away: gross income.
2. Very obvious and serious: gross negligence.
3. (informal) Disgusting.
4. Rude or vulgar.
5. Very fat or large.

Noun

1. Twelve dozen; 144.
2. The total amount before deductions.

Verb

1. To earn a total amount before deductions.
2. gross out (slang): to disgust.

Word family

• grosser
• grossly
• grossness
• overgross
• ungross
• outgross
• adjusted gross income
• gross anatomy

Related words

• engross
• grocer
• grocery

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press