Etymologically
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grand

Etymology and origin of the French word grand

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 881, Séquence de sainte Eulalie
Inherited from
Latin grandis via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (grandis)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin grandis
French grand

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡʁɑ̃/[1]
  • IPA: /ɡʁɑ̃.t‿/[1]

Forms

grand (feminine grande, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grandes)[1] Old French grant, one form for both genders; hence the apostrophe of grand'mère, written grand-mère by the Académie since 1932.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French grant, inherited from Latin grandis (“big, large; advanced in age, (of style) lofty”).[3][2][4][5] “Grandis”, which has no known origin, was more common in spoken Latin than magnus, and it ousted “magnus” in most of the Romance languages.[2][6][7] Since the Latin adjective had a single form for both genders, so did Old French “grant”; the feminine “grande” was formed later by analogy.[2][3] The title Grand d'Espagne was taken from Spanish Grande (de España).[3][2]

Cognate with Italian grande, Occitan gran, Catalan gran, Spanish grande and Portuguese grande.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 881 in the Séquence de sainte Eulalie, in an abstract sense: grand honestet “great honour”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The abstract sense came first, followed by “of high rank” (1130–1140); a noble or powerful person became un grand about 1500.[3][2] The concrete sense “taller or larger than average” is found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), together with “large in number or extent”.[3] As in Latin, grand also meant “older”: li grant “the grown-ups” (about 1050) survives in grande personne and in grand-père and grand-mère, which since the 12th century have gradually replaced aïeul.[2][3][6]

Grand became a sort of superlative (un grand sot, 1611) and was attached to names (le grand Corneille, Louis le Grand, late 17th century).[2] In the 20th century les Grands named the great powers (les quatre Grands, 1944).[2] In Swiss French it is used as an adverb meaning “very” (il fait grand beau), and in African French les grands are the notables, the powerful.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 881 – Grand honestet in the Séquence de sainte Eulalie.[3]
  • c. 1050 – Li grant “the grown-ups”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.[3]
  • c. 1100 – “Tall, big” in the Chanson de Roland.[3]
  • 1130–1140 – “Of high rank”, in Wace.[3]
  • c. 1500 – Les grands “people of high rank”, in Commynes.[3]
  • Before 1646 – Grands d'Espagne.[3]
  • 1671 – En grand “on a large scale”.[3]
  • 1932 – The Académie writes grand-mère with a hyphen.[2]
  • 1944 – Les quatre Grands, the great powers.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Tall: un homme grand et mince.[9][1]
  2. Big, large in size or extent: une grande ville.[8][1]
  3. Grown-up, older: une grande personne, mon grand frère.[2][9]
  4. Great in number, quantity or intensity: un grand bruit, un grand froid.[4][3]
  5. Great, important, eminent: un grand écrivain, Alexandre le Grand.[1][2]
  6. Noble, generous: une grande âme.[3][2]
  7. As an intensifier: un grand sot.[2][1]

Noun

  1. An older pupil; an adult, as opposed to a child: la cour des grands.[10]
  2. A person of high rank, a powerful person, les Grands, the great powers.[10][11]
  3. Grand d'Espagne: a member of the highest Spanish nobility.[11]
  4. En grand: on a large scale.[11][3]

Adverb

  1. Voir grand: to plan on a large scale, ouvrir grand: to open wide, grand ouvert, wide open.[11]

Word family

  • grand-
  • grand-duc
  • grandeur
  • grandelet
  • grandir
  • agrandir
  • agrandissement
  • grand-père
  • grand-mère

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 219a
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Grand.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/grand. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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