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magnitude

Etymology and origin of the English word magnitude

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1398
Borrowed from
Latin magnitudo
Ultimate origin
Latin (magnitudo)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈmæɡ.nɪ.tʃuːd/, /ˈmæɡ.nɪ.tjuːd/, US /ˈmæɡ.nɪ.tuːd/[1]

Etymology

It is, probably through Old French magnitude and directly, borrowed from Latin magnitūdō (“greatness, bulk, size”),[2][3][4] from magnus, great,[2][4] related to Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas) and Sanskrit महा (mahā)́nt-, great, and to English much,[4][2] with the suffix -tūdō (see -tude).[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Greatness of character, rank or position: 1398 in the OED, before 1400 in Barnhart, also magnificence.[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Greatness of size or extent is from about 1420 in the OED, before 1425 in Barnhart,[5][2] and great importance from 1432–50.[5] Size whether great or small, the measure of a quantity in geometry, is from 1570.[5] The brightness of a star expressed as a number is from the 1640s, translating Ptolemy's Greek mégethos,[3] and the intrinsic size of an earthquake from 1935.[5]

Timeline

  • 1398 – greatness of rank.[5]
  • c. 1420 – greatness of size.[5]
  • 1570 – relative size.[5]
  • 1640s – a star's brightness.[3]
  • 1935 – an earthquake's magnitude.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Great size, extent or importance: a problem of the first magnitude.
  2. Relative size or extent.
  3. (astronomy) The brightness of a star or other celestial body on a numerical scale.
  4. (mathematics) A number given to a quantity for comparison with others.
  5. The size of an earthquake, measured on a scale.

Word family

  • absolute magnitude
  • apparent magnitude
  • bolometric magnitude
  • order of magnitude
  • visual magnitude

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Magnitude.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/magnitude. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·