Etymologically
Log in

gross

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 01:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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