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, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, thick, coarse, massive”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub, grind, remove”).
Cognate with Scots great (“coarse in grain or texture, thick, great”), West Frisian grut (“large, great”), Dutch groot (“large, stour”), German groß (“large”), Old English grēot (“earth, sand, grit”). Related to grit. Doublet of gross.
Pronunciation
- (obsolete)
- (1700s) enPR: grīt, IPA(key): /ɡɹiːt/
- (Early Modern English, 1500s–1600s) IPA(key): /ɡɹɛːt/, /ɡɹet/
Adjective
great (comparative greater, superlative greatest)
- Taking much space; large.
1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like // Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’
2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.
- (of an abstract noun) Much, more than usual.
great worry
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:“We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”
1951 March, John W. Cline, “The Future of Medicine”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 165:The first half of this century has been referred to as the golden age of medicine. To me it seems more probable that we are on the threshold of a much greater age.
- (informal, British) Intensifying a word or expression, used in mild oaths.
a dirty great smack in the face
Great Scott!
- (informal) Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.
Dinner was great.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
- Important, consequential.
a great dilemma
a great decision
- 2008, George McCandless, The ABCs of RBCs, Harvard University Press, p. 2
- The methods for finding parameters that are commonly used in RBC models include using coefficients that come from microeconomic studies for parameters like the time discount factor, rental income over total income for the parameters of a Cobb-Douglas production function, and adjusting parameters so that stationary state value values approach those of the great ratios such as consumption over income and capital over income.
- (qualifying nouns of family relationship) Involving more generations than the qualified word implies — as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s).
great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-great-grandfather
- (obsolete, postpositive, followed by 'with') Pregnant; large with young; full of.
great with child
great with hope
- (obsolete, except with 'friend' and similar words such as 'mate', 'buddy') Intimate; familiar.
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Followers and Friends”, in The Essayes , 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:those that are so great with him
\
- (applied to actions, thoughts and feelings) Arising from or possessing idealism; admirable; commanding; illustrious; eminent.
a great deed
a great nature
a great history
- Impressive or striking.
a great show of wealth
- Much in use; favoured.
Poetry was a great convention of the Romantic era.
- (applied to persons) Of much talent or achievements.
a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher, writer etc.
- Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale; active or enthusiastic.
What a great buffoon!
He's not a great one for reading.
a great walker
Usage notes
Moderating adverbs such as fairly, somewhat, etc. tend not to be used with great. Some intensifiers can be used with some senses of great; for example, a very great amount, a very great man, the party was really great, though not *the party was very great.
Synonyms
- (augmentative): grand, super-, supra-, hyper-, ultra-, uber-, macro-, arch-, over-, mega-, giga-, -zilla
- See also Thesaurus:large
- See also Thesaurus:excellent
- gr8, grt (Internet slang, text messaging)
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of "very big, large scale"): tiny
- (antonym(s) of "uncommonly gifted"): mediocre, ordinary
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
very big, large scale
- Afrikaans: groot (af)
- Arabic: عَظِيم (ar) (ʕaẓīm), كَبِير (ar) (kabīr)
- Egyptian Arabic: كبير (kibīr)
- South Levantine Arabic: كبير (kbīr)
- Aramaic:
- Classical Syriac: ܪܒܐ (rabbā), ܟܒܝܪܐ (kabbīrā)
- Jewish Aramaic: רַבָּא (rabbā)
- Armenian: մեծ (hy) (mec)
- Bavarian: grous
- Belarusian: вялі́кі (be) (vjalíki)
- Bengali: আকবর (bn) (akbor)
- Bulgarian: голя́м (bg) (goljám), вели́к (bg) (velík)
- Burmese: ကြီးမားသော (kri:ma:sau:)
- Catalan: gran (ca), enorme (ca)
- Cherokee: ᎡᏆ (equa)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 大 (yue) (daai6)
- Dungan: да (da)
- Mandarin: 大 (zh) (dà), 巨大 (zh) (jùdà), 偉大/伟大 (zh) (wěidà)
- Cornish: (unified) brâs
- Crimean Tatar: ulu
- Czech: veliký (cs)
- Dalmatian: grund, gruond
- Dutch: groot (nl)
- Egyptian: (ꜥꜣ)
- Erzya: покш (pokš)
- Eshtehardi: پیل (pil)
- Esperanto: ega
- Estonian: vägev
- Faroese: stórur (fo), mikil
- Finnish: jättimäinen (fi), mahtava (fi), valtava (fi), jätti-, suunnaton (fi)
- French: grand (fr)
- Friulian: grant
- Galician: grande (gl)
- Georgian: დიდი (ka) (didi)
- German: groß (de)
- Gothic: 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils)
- Greek: μεγάλος (el) (megálos)
- Ancient: μέγας (mégas)
- Hebrew: גָּדוֹל (he) (gadól)
- Hungarian: nagy (hu)
- Icelandic: stór (is), mikill (is)
- Ido: granda (io)
- Indonesian: besar (id)
- Irish: mór, ábhal
- Italian: grande (it)
- Japanese: 大きい (ja) (おおきい, ōkii), 巨大な (ja) (きょだいな, kyodai na), 偉大な (ja) (いだいな, idai na)
- Kazakh: ұлы (ūly)
- Korean: 크다 (ko) (keuda), 거대하다 (ko) (geodaehada), 위대하다 (ko) (widaehada)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: مەزن (ckb) (mezn)
- Kyrgyz: улуу (ky) (uluu)
- Latin: magnus (la), grandis
- Latvian: liels (lv), dižs, varens
- Lithuanian: didelis (lt)
- Macedonian: голем (golem)
- Maore Comorian: -ɓole
- Maori: mokorahi, mokotahi
- Maranao: basar
- Mizo: ropui, lian
- Mòcheno: groas
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: их (mn) (ix)
- Navajo: tsoh
- Neapolitan: gruosso
- North Frisian: (Föhr-Amrum) grat
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: великъ (velikŭ)
- Glagolitic: ⰲⰵⰾⰻⰽⱏ (velikŭ)
- Old East Slavic: великъ (velikŭ)
- Old English: miċel
- Old Norse: stórr, mikill
- Ottoman Turkish: بیوك (biyük)
- Pashto: ستر (ps) (stër), لوی (loi)
- Persian: بزرگ (fa) (bozorg), سترگ (fa) (setorg), عظیم (fa) ('azim)
- Plautdietsch: groot (nds)
- Polish: wielki (pl)
- Portuguese: grande (pt), grandioso (pt), enorme (pt)
- Quechua: hatun (qu)
- Rapa Nui: nui
- Romanian: mare (ro)
- Russian: вели́кий (ru) (velíkij), большо́й (ru) (bolʹšój)
- Sanskrit: मह (sa) (maha), महत् (sa) (mahat)
- Scots: great, muckle, unco
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: вѐлик, го̀лем
- Roman: vèlik (sh), gòlem (sh)
- Slovak: veľký (sk)
- Slovene: velik (sl)
- Spanish: grande (es)
- Swedish: stor (sv)
- Tajik: бузург (tg) (buzurg)
- Telugu: గొప్ప (te) (goppa)
- Tocharian B: orotstse
- Turkish: çok büyük, büyük (tr)
- Udi: кала (kala)
- Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎁 (rb)
- Ukrainian: вели́кий (uk) (velýkyj)
- Vietnamese: vĩ đại (vi), tuyệt quá
- Welsh: mawr (cy)
- West Frisian: grut (fy)
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very good
- Arabic: رَائِع (ar) (rāʔiʕ), عَظِيم (ar) (ʕaẓīm)
- Egyptian Arabic: عظيم (ʕaẓīm)
- Aramaic:
- Classical Syriac: ܪܒܐ (rabbā)
- Jewish Aramaic: רַבָּא (rabbā)
- Armenian: հոյակապ (hy) (hoyakap)
- Belarusian: выда́тны (vydátny), цудо́ўны (cudóŭny)
- Bulgarian: чуде́сен (bg) (čudésen), отли́чен (bg) (otlíčen)
- Catalan: genial (ca), fabulós
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 很好 (hěn hǎo), 不錯/不错 (zh) (búcuò), 棒 (zh) (bàng), 卓越 (zh) (zhuóyuè)
- Czech: skvělý (cs)
- Dutch: heerlijk (nl), prachtig (nl)
- Esperanto: bonega (eo)
- Finnish: erinomainen (fi), erittäin hyvä, loistava (fi), suurenmoinen (fi), tosihyvä (informal)
- French: excellent (fr), super (fr), formidable (fr)
- Georgian: შესანიშნავი (šesanišnavi), საუცხოო (saucxoo)
- German: großartig (de), schön (de), fein (de), wundervoll (de)
- Greek: εξαιρετικός (el) (exairetikós)
- Hebrew: (please verify) מעולֵה (meʿule); נהדר (he) (nehedɑr); נפלא (he) (niflɑ)
- Hungarian: nagyszerű (hu)
- Ido: (please verify) brava (io), (please verify) tre bona
- Italian: formidabile (it), magnifico (it), ottimo (it), superbo (it), eccellente (it), super (it)
- Japanese: 凄い (ja) (すごい, sugoi), すばらしい (ja) (subarashii), 素敵な (ja) (すてきな, suteki na), 壮大な (ja) (そうだいな, sōdai na)
- Korean: 대단하다 (ko) (daedanhada), 훌륭하다 (ko) (hullyunghada), 근사하다 (ko) (geunsahada), 멋지다 (ko) (meotjida)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: زۆر چاک (zor çak)
- Latin: magnus (la), grandis
- Latvian: lielisks, izcils
- Lithuanian: puikus, nuostabus (lt)
- Macedonian: одличен (odličen)
- Mizo: ropui, ţha
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: kjempebra (no)
- Nynorsk: kjempebra
- Occitan: formidable (oc)
- Pashto: غوره (ps) (ǧwara)
- Persian: عالی (fa) ('âli)
- Plautdietsch: groot (nds)
- Polish: wspaniały (pl), świetny (pl)
- Portuguese: ótimo (pt)
- Romanian: superb (ro), minunat (ro), foarte bun
- Russian: прекра́сный (ru) (prekrásnyj), отли́чный (ru) (otlíčnyj), замеча́тельный (ru) (zamečátelʹnyj), великоле́пный (ru) (velikolépnyj), чуде́сный (ru) (čudésnyj)
- Scots: gey
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: одличан, изврстан
- Roman: odličan (sh), izvrstan (sh)
- Slovak: skvelý
- Slovene: odličen
- Spanish: formidable (es), muy bueno, genial (es)
- Swedish: jättebra (sv)
- Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎁 (rb)
- Ukrainian: прекра́сний (prekrásnyj), чудо́вий (čudóvyj), чуде́сний (čudésnyj)
- Vietnamese: tuyệt (vi)
- Welsh: gwych (cy), grêt
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Translations to be checked
- Danish: (please verify) fed
- German: (please verify) groß (de), (please verify) weit (de), (please verify) ausgedehnt (de), (please verify) bedeutend (de)
- Gilaki: (please verify) پیله (pile)
- Icelandic: (please verify) stór (is)
- Ido: (please verify) granda (io)
- Italian: (please verify) grande (it)
- Indonesian: (please verify) hebat (id), (please verify) agung (id), (please verify) besar (id)
- Mazanderani: (please verify) گت (geat)
- Romanian: ...(please verify) cel Mare m, (please verify) Marele... m or n, (please verify) Marea... f
- Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) veliki (sh), (please verify) istaknuto (sh) n
- Swedish: (please verify) fantastisk (sv), (please verify) enorm (sv), (please verify) betydelsefull (sv)
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Interjection
great
- Expression of gladness and content about something.
- Great! Thanks for the wonderful work.
- sarcastic inversion thereof.
- Oh, great! I just dumped all 500 sheets of the manuscript all over and now I have to put them back in order.
Translations
great!
- Bulgarian: чуде́сно (bg) (čudésno)
- Danish: fedt, super (da), nice (da)
- Dutch: fantastisch (nl), (can both be used as sarcasm) fijn (nl)
- Finnish: mahtavaa (fi)
- French: chouette (fr), génial (fr), très bien
- Georgian: ვაშა (vaša)
- German: prima (de)
- Greek: θαυμάσια (el) (thavmásia)
- Hebrew: מעולה (meʿule), טוב מאוד (tov meʾod), נהדר (he) (nehedɑr)
- Italian: grandioso (it) m, bene (it)
- Japanese: すごい (ja) (sugoi)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: باشە (başe), زۆر چاکە (zor çake)
- Latin: babae
- Macedonian: супер (super), одлично (odlično)
- Malay: bagus (ms)
- Polish: świetnie (pl), super (pl)
- Portuguese: magnífico (pt), ótimo (pt)
- Russian: здо́рово (ru) (zdórovo), отли́чно (ru) (otlíčno), класс (ru) (klass) (colloquial)
- Spanish: bien (es), genial (es)
- Swedish: jättebra (sv)
- Thai: ยอดเยี่ยม (th) (yot yiam)
- Venetian: vèrceghe (vec)
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Noun
great (plural greats)
- A person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim.
- Newton and Einstein are two of the greats of the history of science.
2019 May 1, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way. That, in a nutshell, perhaps sums up the difference between Messi and the players on the next rung below – the ones who can be described as great footballers without necessarily being football greats.
- (music) The main division in a pipe organ, usually the loudest division.
- (in combinations such as "two-greats", "three-greats" etc.) An instance of the word "great" signifying an additional generation in phrases expressing family relationships.
- My three-greats grandmother.
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of "person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim"): mediocre
Translations
person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim
Adverb
great (not comparable)
- (informal) Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).
- Those mechanical colored pencils work great because they don't have to be sharpened.
Translations
References
Anagrams
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from *gʰer- (“to rub, grind, remove”).
Cognate with Old Saxon grōt (“large, thick, coarse, stour”), Old High German grōz (“large, thick, coarse”), Old English grot (“particle”). More at groat.
Pronunciation
Adjective
grēat (comparative grīetra, superlative grīetest)
- great, massive
- tall
- thick; stout
- coarse
Declension
Declension of grēat — Strong
Declension of grēat — Weak
Derived terms
Descendants
Scots
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English grete, from Old English grēat, from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz.
Pronunciation
Adjective
great (comparative greater, superlative greatest)
- great
- coarse (in grain or texture)
- thick, bulky, roomy (of things)
- big, stout (of people)
- swollen with rain, in flood (of a river)
- high, stormy (of the sea)
- intimate, friendly