great

great
\ \ [OE] The main adjective for ‘large’ in the Anglo-Saxon period was the now virtually obsolete mickle. Great at that time was for the most part restricted in meaning to ‘stout, thick’.
\ \ In the Middle English period great broadened out in meaning, gradually taking over from mickle, but in modern English has itself been superseded by big and large, and is now used only in reference to non-material things. Its origins are a problem. It comes from a prehistoric West Germanic *grautaz, which also produced German gross and Dutch groot (source of English groatsmall coin’ [14], etymologically a ‘big’ or ‘thick’ coin), but it is not clear where *grautaz came from. A resemblance to grit and groats has suggested a common origin in Indo-European *ghrēu- ‘rub, pound’.
\ \ Cf.GRIT, GROAT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Great — (gr[=a]t), a. [Compar. {Greater}; superl. {Greatest}.] [OE. gret, great, AS. gre[ a]t; akin to OS. & LG. gr[=o]t, D. groot, OHG. gr[=o]z, G. gross. Cf. {Groat} the coin.] 1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous; expanded; opposed… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Great go — Great Great (gr[=a]t), a. [Compar. {Greater}; superl. {Greatest}.] [OE. gret, great, AS. gre[ a]t; akin to OS. & LG. gr[=o]t, D. groot, OHG. gr[=o]z, G. gross. Cf. {Groat} the coin.] 1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • great — [grāt] adj. [ME grete < OE great, akin to Ger gross, Du groot < IE base * ghrēu , rub hard over, crumble > GRIT, Welsh gro, sand: basic sense “coarse, coarsegrained”] 1. of much more than ordinary size, extent, volume, etc.; esp., a)… …   English World dictionary

  • Great DJ — «Great DJ» Sencillo de The Ting Tings del álbum We Started Nothing Formato CD Single, Descarga digital Género(s) Dance pop/Indie pop Discográfica …   Wikipedia Español

  • great — O.E. great big, tall, thick, stout; coarse, from W.Gmc. *grautaz coarse, thick (Cf. O.S. grot, O.Fris. grat, Du. groot, Ger. groß great ). Said to have meant originally big in size, coarse, and, if so, perhaps from PIE root *ghreu to rub, grind.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • great — great; great·en; great·hearted; great·heart·ed·ly; great·heart·ed·ness; great·ly; great·ness; Great; …   English syllables

  • great- — [greıt] prefix 1.) great grandfather/great grandmother/great aunt/great uncle the ↑grandfather, ↑grandmother etc of your parents 2.) great grandchild/great granddaughter etc the grandchildren of your child …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • great- — [greıt] prefix 1.) great grandfather/great grandmother/great aunt/great uncle the ↑grandfather, ↑grandmother etc of your parents 2.) great grandchild/great granddaughter etc the grandchildren of your child …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • great — ► ADJECTIVE 1) of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above average. 2) of ability, quality, or eminence considerably above average. 3) informal excellent. 4) most important: the great thing is the challenge. 5) particularly deserving a… …   English terms dictionary

  • Great — may mean:* Greatness, the state of being superior, majestic, transcendent, or divine * GREAT, Gang Resistance Education and Training * GReAT, Graph Rewriting and Transformation, a Model Transformation Language * Great (film), a British animated… …   Wikipedia

  • great- — [grāt] 〚/span> GREAT, taken as intensifier〛 combining form older (or younger) by one generation: each additional great shows one further generation removed [great aunt, great great grandson] * * * …   Universalium

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