big

big
\ \ [13] Big is one of the notorious mystery words of English etymology – extremely common in the modern language, but of highly dubious origin. In its earliest use in English it meant ‘powerful, strong’, and it is not really until the 16th century that we get unequivocal examples of it in the modern sense ‘large’. It occurs originally in northern texts, only slowly spreading south, which suggests that it may be of Scandinavian origin; some have compared Norwegian dialect buggeimportant man’.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • big — /bIg/ adjective comparative bigger superlative biggest 1 SIZE of more than average size, amount, weight etc: a big house | Your baby s getting big! | a big increase in prices | the biggest hotel in New York | She had a big grin on her face. |… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • big — [ bıg ] adjective *** 1. ) large in size: a beautiful woman with big eyes He kept all his secret papers in a big box. great big (=very big): At the end of the lane was a great big house. a ) a big person is tall and heavy, and often fat: A big… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Big 4 — Big Four  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Big Four of Thrash.  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Big Four (football). . On appelle Big Four ou Fat Four (littéralement, les « quatre gros ») les quatre groupes d audit les plus… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Big 6 — Big Four  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Big Four of Thrash.  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Big Four (football). . On appelle Big Four ou Fat Four (littéralement, les « quatre gros ») les quatre groupes d audit les plus… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Big 8 — or Big Eight may refer to:*Big 8 (Usenet) the original 8 top level hierarchies in the Usenet news group collection *Once the Big eight accounting firms in the United States, then became the Big Six , is now the Big Four. *Big Eight Conference a… …   Wikipedia

  • Big X — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Big X ビッグX (Biggu X) Manga Creado por Osamu Tezuka Editorial Shūeisha …   Wikipedia Español

  • Big L — Полное имя Лэмонт Коулмэн Дата рождения 30 мая 1974(1974 05 30) Место рождения Гарлем, Манхэттен, Нью Йорк …   Википедия

  • Big — (b[i^]g), a. [Compar. {Bigger}; superl. {Biggest}.] [Perh. from Celtic; cf. W. beichiog, beichiawg, pregnant, with child, fr. baich burden, Arm. beac h; or cf. OE. bygly, Icel. biggiligr, (properly) habitable; (then) magnigicent, excellent, fr.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Big-L —  Pour la radio pirate britannique, voir Radio London. Big L Nom Lamont Coleman Naissance 30 mai 1974 Harlem, New York …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Big L. —  Pour la radio pirate britannique, voir Radio London. Big L Nom Lamont Coleman Naissance 30 mai 1974 Harlem, New York …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Big Me — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda «Big Me» Sencillo de Foo Fighters del álbum Foo Fighters Publicación 24 de marzo de 2006 Formato CD …   Wikipedia Español

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