grande

Forms

grande m or f by sense (plural grandi, comparative più grande or maggiore, superlative grandissimo or massimo or sommo, diminutive grandétto or grandìno or grandettìno or grandicèllo (“tall, older (of a person)”), augmentative grandóne (“big/ostentatious spender”) or (rare) grandòtto, pejorative (rare) grandàccio)^[1] Before a consonant it is often shortened to gran (un gran rumore), and before a vowel it may be elided to grand’ (grand’uomo).^[2][3] The oldest forms are grant in the 12th-century Gallo-Italic sermons and grando in Guido Faba (1241–1243).^[4][5] Old and dialect forms also include granne and grante.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin grandis (“grown up, big, tall”).^[4][7][5][1] The Latin word was colloquial beside the more classical magnus (“great”), and in the Romance languages it replaced it.^[3][8][6] According to Migliorini, quoted by DELI, it won because it was formally close to the warmer and more concrete grossus (“thick”) and grassus (“fat”).^[4] The same word is French grand, Occitan gran, Catalan gran, Spanish grande and Portuguese grande.^[7][6]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[4][7][9] Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny connected it with Ancient Greek βρένθος (brénthos, “pride”) and Old Church Slavonic грѫдь (grǫdĭ, “breast”), but de Vaan rejects this on phonetic and semantic grounds.^[9][1] He is equally sceptical of Vennemann's idea that ⟨grandis⟩ and Basque handi (“big”) are remnants of a Vasconian substrate.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the form grando in the Parlamenti of Guido Faba, of 1241–1243, but the form grant already appears in the 12th-century Gallo-Italic sermons.^[4][5][7] The sense was “larger than the usual measure”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the adjective also meant “tall, stout” and “solemn, important”, and as a noun “adult” (before 1300, Guido Cavalcanti) and “a person of rank or power” (before 1292, Bono Giamboni).^[4] In the Florentine republic i grandi were the magnates, whose nobility and wealth excluded them from most offices.^[10] In the 16th century Vincenzio Borghini noticed that the current sense “noble” was not the old one, “powerful, wealthy”.^[4]

A grande di Spagna is a grandee of the Spanish crown (from 1555–1560), and in this sense the word was taken directly from Spanish.^[4][11] The sense “political leader”, as in i tre Grandi, is a calque of English the big three (1955).^[4][11] Before another adjective grande gives superlative force (un gran bel libro), a use recorded from 1863.^[4] Contemporary Italian has replaced in grande with alla grande “in style”.^[4]

The derivative grandioso was taken from Spanish grandioso late,^[4][7] and the title granduca was granted by Pope Pius V to Cosimo I of Tuscany in 1569.^[4] English borrowed the noun as grand, a grandee, from Spanish and Italian in 1606.^[12]

Timeline

• 12th century – The form grant appears in the Gallo-Italic sermons.^[4]
• 1241–1243 – Guido Faba writes grando.^[4][5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the noun for a person of rank.^[4][12]
• Before 1300 – Guido Cavalcanti uses grande for an adult.^[4]
• 1555–1560 – Grande for a Spanish grandee is first recorded.^[4]
• 1569 – Pius V makes Cosimo I granduca of Tuscany.^[4]
• 1606 – English grand “grandee” is first recorded.^[12]
• 1955 – I Grandi for the leading powers, after English big.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. big, large, above the usual size: una casa grande.^[5][3][8]
2. Of a given size, in measurements, comparisons and questions: Quanto è grande il giardino?^[5][3][13]
3. Of a person, big, tall, grown up, and colloquially also older: mio fratello più grande.^[5][13][1]
4. Large in quantity or intensity: un gran freddo, una grande felicità.^[5][8][2]
5. Important, remarkable: una grande impresa.^[8][14][1]
6. Outstanding for ability, merit or power, great, as in un grande scultore, and after a name as an epithet: Alessandro il Grande.^[8][14][13]
7. Before a noun or adjective, an intensifier: un gran chiacchierone, una gran bella giornata.^[14][13][4]

Noun

1. An adult, a grown-up: i grandi e i piccoli.^[5][1][4]
2. A great person, and in the plural the great powers or leaders.^[1][4]
3. (history) A grandee of Spain.^[4][10]

Interjection

1. (colloquial) Great!, well done!^[1][15]

Word family

• grandezza
• grandioso
• grandiosità
• grandeggiare
• ingrandire
• ingrandimento
• granduca
• granducato
• grandigia
• stragrande
• grancassa
• grandangolo

Related words

• maggiore
• massimo
• Latin grandis
• French grand

Usage notes

The comparative is più grande or maggiore, the superlative grandissimo or massimo.^[2][1] Alla grande means “in grand style, splendidly”.^[13][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
7. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1859
12. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b c d e Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org