great
Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹeɪt/
The English word “great” has 20 meanings listed here.
adjective
- Taking much space; large.
- Much, more than usual.
- Intensifying a word or expression, used in mild oaths.
- Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.
- Important, consequential.
- Involving more generations than the qualified word implies — as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s).
- Pregnant; large with young; full of.
- Intimate; familiar.
- Arising from or possessing idealism; admirable; commanding; illustrious; eminent.
- Impressive or striking.
- Much in use; favoured.
- Of much talent or achievements.
- Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale; active or enthusiastic.
interjection
noun
- A person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim.
- The main division in a pipe organ, usually the loudest division.
- An instance of the word great signifying an additional generation in phrases expressing family relationships.
- A great-grandparent.
adverb
- Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).
Etymology
From Middle English greet, grete (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, massive; tall; thick; coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“coarse, crude; big, large”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub; to stroke; to grind; to remove”). Cognates Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot,…
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About this dictionary
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.