▪ I. great, a., adv., and n.
(greɪt)
Forms: 1 gréat, (gréæt, gréot), 2 grat-e, 3 græt, Kent. griat, 3–6 gret(e, 4 Kent. grat, 4–6 grett(e, greet(e, grait, 5–6 greate, greatt(e, (5 greth, 6 graete, 7 grat), 6 Sc. greit, gryt(t, 6–9 Sc. grit, 9 Sc. grite, gryte, 3– great. β. 4 gert(t, 6 gertte, 9 dial. girt, gurt. (See also greater, greatest.)
[Com. WGer.: OE. gréat = OFris. grât, OS. grôt (MDu., Du. groot), OHG., MHG. grôȥ (G. grosz):—OTeut. *grauto-:—pre-Teut. *ghroudo-. (Wanting in Gothic and Scandinavian.)
On the assumption that the primary sense is ‘coarse’ (sense 1 below), some scholars regard the word as cognate with ON. graut-r porridge, OE. gr{uacu}t fine meal, grot particle, grytta coarse meal, gréot sand, gravel, ON. griót stones. But the connexion is not free from difficulty, as the cognates of these words outside Teut. point to a root meaning ‘to pound’, a sense from which that of the adj. is not easily derived. It has been suggested (Stokes in Fick Idg. Wb.4 ii. 119) that a cognate of the Teut. adj. may exist in the OIrish gruad (?:—pre-Celtic *ghroudes-) cheek (? lit. ‘thick or fleshy part’ of the face; cf. sense 2 below, and the contrasted notion in OE. þunwang lit. ‘thin cheek’, the temples). The prevailing senses in OE. are ‘coarse, thick, stout, big’; but the word also appears as an intensive synonym of micel mickle, which in the later language it superseded. In OHG. grôȥ had the senses of ‘big, awkwardly large’, and of ‘pregnant’, but was also used as a synonym of mihhil (though not with reference to length); in OS. grôt is recorded only in the sense of ‘great’, in which it is less frequent (and possibly more emphatic) than mikil. The development by which great has superseded mickle (not only in Eng. but also in Du., Ger., and Fris.) may be illustrated by reference to the mod. colloquial substitution of big for great, and to the supersession of L. magnus in Rom. by grandis big, full-grown (see grand a.).
In this word, as in break, the influence of the preceding r has caused ME. (ɛː) to be represented by (eɪ) instead of the usual (iː); cf. broad with (ɔː) instead of (əʊ). The pronunciation (griːt) was, however, very common, and approved by the majority of orthoepists, throughout the 18th c.; it seems to have been merely an artificial fashion. Many modern dialects have (grɛt), and others have metathetic forms such as (g(ʌ)rt); a common Sc. form, esp. in senses 1 and 2, is gryte (greit).]
A. adj. I. Thick, coarse, massive, big.
1. a. Composed of large particles; coarse of grain or texture. Of diet: Coarse, not delicate. In Old Cookery, applied sometimes to boiled meat in contradistinction to roast. Obs. exc. Sc. (in form grit or gryte).
| 909 Grant in Birch Cartul. Sax. (1887) II. 290 Tu hund greates hlafes & þridde smales. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 138 Cnuca mid greatum sealte [L. cum sale marino]. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 163 His alter cloð is great and sole, ac hire chemise smal and hwit. a 1225 Ancr. R. 10 Mid hore greate maten & hore herde heren. Ibid. 418 Nexst fleshe schal mon werien no linene cloð bute ȝif hit beo of herde and of greate heorden. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xi. (1495) 195 A seruaunt woman..is fedde with grete mete and symple [L. grossioribus cibis reficitur]. Ibid. vii. lv. 268 Stone and grauell..comyth namely of drynke of slymy water and of grete dyete. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 661 Caro salsa, salt flesche. Ibid. 662 Caro grossa, grete flesche. Caro assata [printed assota], rost flesche. c 1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 435 Take onyons and mynce hom grete. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. ii. (1885) 114 A pouere cote..made of grete caunuas, and callid a frokke. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 24, vi messes of greete mete and rost. 1614 Compt bk. D. Wedderburne (S.H.S.) 250 Aucht hundreth bolls great salt. Mod. Sc. That meal (or salt) is ower gryte; I like it sma’. |
† b. Said of the air: Thick, dense.
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. xlvi. (1495) F j/2 Therfore valeyes ben demyd by assaye hote & trowbly with grete ayre & thycke & many vapours. |
2. Thick; stout, massive, bulky, big. (Opposed to
small in its original sense of ‘slender’.)
Obs. exc. Sc. (in form
grit or
gryte).
a. Of things.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. §2 Great beam on wuda. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 52 Greatum haᵹolstanum. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 415/7 Grossas et graciles, great and smæl. 11.. O.E. Chron. (1892) 5 (Laud MS.) Ða ᵹenamon þa Walas & adrifon sumre ea ford ealne mid scearpum pilum greatum innan þam wetere. c 1320 Sir Beues (A.) 1884 Þe staf, þat he to fiȝte ber, Was twenti fote in lengþe be tale, Þar to gret & noþing smale. c 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 37 And Phebus dyed hath hir tresses grete Lyk to the stremes of his burned hete. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 359 in Babees Bk., A stafe, A fyngur gret two wharters long. [1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. xxxvi. (1870) 212 They haue gret lyppes, and nottyd heare.] ? a 1800 Earl of Aboyne in Child Ballads (1892) IV. 312 Wi her fingers sae white, and the gold rings sae grite. a 1900 Mod. Sc. He had a stick as gryte as your airm. |
† b. Of persons and animals: Stout, corpulent.
| c 1050 Suppl. ælfric's Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 172/14 Corpulentus, ðiccul. Grossus, græat. 10.. O.E. Chron. an. 1017 (MS. D) æþelward æᵹelmeres sunu [þæs] greatan. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2098 Ðeden ut-comen vii. neet, Euerilc wel swiðe fet and gret. c 1300 Leg. St. Gregory 1024 Fisches þre Þat were boþe gret and long. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 954 Euery lyth Fattysh, flesshy, not grete therwith. |
3. a. Pregnant; far advanced in pregnancy:
app. orig. referred to the stoutness of the body. Chiefly with
with (
child, etc.);
† occas. with
of.
† Also said of the body. (
Cf. big a. 4.)
arch. and
dial.| c 1200 Ormin 2479 Ȝho wass waxenn summ del græt &..wass wiþþ childe. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (E.E.T.S.) 639/52 Virgyn Marie..gret with childe. c 1460 Towneley Myst. x. 158 Hyr body is grete, and she with childe! 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 217/2 To whom her husbond answerd..dame..thou art grete and the perylles of the see ben wythout nombre thou myghtest lyghtely perysshe. 1549 Compl. Scotl. vi. 60 Ane nobil princesse callit martia grit vitht child. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 24 Dolphins..go great 10 months. 1647 A. Ross Myst. Poet. viii. (1675) 157 Being great of Paris, she dreamed that she had a burning fire-brand in her belly. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 55 She chanc'd to be with Child,..and being very great, and that her time was come to be delivered. 17.. in Herd's Coll. Sc. Songs (1776) II. 58 O silly lassie, what wilt thou do? If thou grow great, they'll heez thee high. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Savage Wks. II. 245 The child, with which she was then great. 1842 Tennyson Walking to Mail 80 She [a sow]..Lay great with pig, wallowing in sun and mud. |
† b. fig. Obs.| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. iii, My heart is great of thoughts. Ibid. iv. iii, Art not great of thanks To gratious heauen? 1606 Chapman Gentl. Usher Plays 1873 I. 308 The Asse is great with child of some ill newes. 1608 Shakes. Per. v. i. 107, I am great with woe, and shall deliver weeping. 1654 Z. Coke Logick (1657) Ep. Ded. A iij b, The smattering Soul of Lapsed man..often taking shewes and shaddows for substances, gets the minde great of Distemperature. |
† 4. Full or ‘big’ with courage, emotion, anger, sorrow, or pride; angry, grieved; proud, arrogant. Often qualifying
heart (
cf. great-hearted).
Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 569 Heo comen to gadere mid greatere heorte. Ibid. 25292 We habbeoð writen ibroht þe word swiðe grate [c 1275 grete]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 342 Of alle kudde & kuðe sunnen, ase of prude, of great heorte, oðer of heih heorte. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2855 Is herte was so gret uor is fader deþe þere. Ibid. 6314 Edmond..is grete herte wiþ drou & ensentede to is rede. a 1300 Cursor M. 5949 His hert wex gret and gan to greue. c 1400 Destr. Troy 12234 Than Telamon..spake Grete wordes..all in grym yre. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 126 The wise Sarra, that made no gret ansueres vnto her chambrere. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxvii. 55 He [Jesus] spake neuer, by nyght ne day, No wordes greatte. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xvi. ix, They wente betynge hym..but he said neuer a word as he whiche was grete of herte. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. v, Men ought not to doubte al folk which ben of grete words and menaces. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 228 My harte is great: but it must break with silence. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 121 The Heart; who great, and pufft up with his Retinue, doth any Deed of Courage. 1608 Dod & Cleaver Expos. Prov. xi. & xii. 6 So standeth the case with all proud persons, theire great heart doth threaten some greate mischiefe to bee nigh vnto them. a 1784 in Scott Minstr. Scot. Bord. (1802) I. 143 Dickie's heart it grew sae grit, That the ne'er a bit o't he dought to eat. 1832 Motherwell Jeanie Morison 79 Oh! say gin e'er your heart grows grit Wi' dreamings o' langsyne? |
5. Of the sea, a river: Having the water swollen or high; in high flood.
dial.| a 1670 Spalding Troub. (Bannatyne Club) I. 174 Seeing they wanted the boats, and that they could not ryde the watter, it being great. 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Trav. ii. 3 We had a very great Sea from the West. 1692 Symson Descr. Galloway (1823) 30 A rivulet called Pinkill Bourn, which is sometimes so great, that [etc.]. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 252 There is no possibility of landing on account of the great sea. |
II. Having a high position in a scale of measurement or quantitative estimation. (Opposed to
small,
little.)
With words like
as,
so,
how, the
adj., like some other
adjs. and
advs. of cognate meaning (
cf. far adv. 6), admits of being used in a weakened sense, expressing size or quantity in the abstract. Thus ‘as great as’ may mean merely ‘equal in size or amount to’, without any implication that the things compared are ‘great’. See also
greater.
6. a. Of material objects, with reference to size.
In unemotional use the word in this application is now superseded by
large or (colloquially)
big. To use
great with reference to size now implies either some kind of feeling on the speaker's part, or a mixture of some other sense of the
adj. Thus ‘I found a
large table in my room’ would simply state a fact, but if
great were used the sentence would indicate annoyance, amusement, or surprise. Often preceding a partly synonymous
adj., as in
great big,
great thick, etc. The
adj. has never had, like the F.
grand and the G.
grosz, the sense of ‘tall’; if used with reference to stature it expresses some feeling such as surprise, contempt, or admiration, as in ‘that great boy’, ‘a great tall man’.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 393 Þe sterns, gret and smale. 13.. K. Alis. 5245 He maden fyres vertuous Fyve hundreth, vche gret als an hous. 1340 Ayenb. 238 Þe vissere heþ more blisse uor to nime þe gratne viss þane ane littlene. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 415 Þis burgeys of þo cyte schewed hom a grett hous strewid. c 1440 Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 80 Grete fyssches are takyn in þe nett, & slayn; smale fyssches scapyn throuȝ þe nett. 1542 Inv. R. Wardrobe (1815) 71 Item, twa gryt barrallis ourgilt. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 130 When he sawe greate wyde gates..where as the toune was but a litle preaty pyle. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 120 It [raspberry] hath..no great howky prickes at all. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. iii. 33 Within a great rock eighteen or twentie baths small and great. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vi. 309 Frome a grett heid he is namet Canmoir. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 153 The Clowd-capt Towres, the Gorgeous Pallaces, The solemne Temples, the great Globe it selfe..sall dissolue. 1715 M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. 249, I saw once in a Barn a Weasel and a great hugy Rat engage. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) II. i. 8 A great over grown, lank-haired, chubby boy. 1766 E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances IV. 272 Little Master Jacky Thompson is returned from the West-Indies, a great big Man. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas i. v. ¶9 A great bloated horse-godmother. 1818 Shelley Rev. Islam x. xxiii. 2 The great fountain in the public square. 1819 ― Cyclops 222 A great faggot of wood. Ibid. 620 A great oak stump. 1841 Lytton Night & Morning ii. xi. 58, I send you a great big sum of 20l. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 98 The charge of his great diocese was committed to his judges, Sprat and Crewe. 1884 Jefferies Red Deer 33 Heath-poults, the female of black-game, fly like a great partridge. 1961 L. P. Hartley Two for River 94 It was a great big thing, the size of a small haystack. |
b. Of letters
= capital. Also in the names of some large sizes of type-bodies, as
Great Canon,
Great Primer. See also
primer n.1 3 a.
great A: capital A.
| 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Grandis litera, a great capitall letter. 1594 Selimus H 1 b, I began to sweare all the crisse crosse row ouer, beginning at great A, litle a, til I cam to w, x, y. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xx. (1636) 324 Six Columnes, every front or head whereof is noted with three great letters, D.M.S., signifying degrees, minutes, and seconds. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. v. 97 Thus makes she her great P's. 1602 J. Cooke Gd. Wife fr. Bad iii. i. (1614) E ij b, I was fiue yeare learning cris-crosse from Great A, and fiue yeere longer comming to F. 1634 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. 16 Pensills of Broome, with which they shadow great letters with common Inke in Coppy bookes. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc. II. 13 Great Primmer..Great Cannon. Ibid. 20, English and upwards are accounted great Bodies. 18.. in Halliwell Nursery Rhymes (1842) 131 Great A, little a, Bouncing B, The cat's in the cupboard, And she can't see. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. lxi, Few minds are big enough to be just to great A without being unjust to capital B. |
c. In the names of certain animal and vegetable species or varieties, distinguished by their larger size from others belonging to the same genus or popularly called by the same name. (
Cf. greater.)
| a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 12 Bardana, an clote, gert burr. Ibid. 16 Consolida media, grete dayeseghe. a 1450 Fysshynge w. angle 15 The Dare & þe greyt Roche..þe greyt cheven..þe gret Trowt. 1530 Palsgr. 227/2 Great hasyll nutte, aueleine. Great hounde, alant. 1548 Turner Names of Herbes 42 Hieracium is of two kyndes. The one is called in latin Hieracium magnum. It may be called in englishe greate Haukweede. Ibid. 70 Particalis salix is the greate Wylowe tree. 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 99 The great Horn-Owl or Eagle-Owl. 1756 Sir J. Hill Brit. Herbal ii. 420 Great Hercules Allheal. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) II. 273 The black or great ostrich. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 188 The Great Cat's-Tail is a perennial reed..a native of Britain. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower, Pl. VI. 396 Great Horse-tail, Great Water Horsetail, or Great Mud Horsetail. 1882 Garden 4 Feb. 71/1 The Great St. John's Wort. 1896 Newton Dict. Birds 967 The Great Titmouse, Parus major. |
d. Forming part of the specific designations of other objects,
e.g. in the names of constellations, as
Great (formerly † Greater) Bear,
Great Dog; of anatomical structures, as
great artery,
† great bone (the sacrum),
great pelvis, etc. (See the
ns.)
† great arm,
great hand: used by the early anatomists for the arm and hand together. Similarly
great foot: see
foot n. 1 c.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. vi. vi. (1636) 616 The Meridian Altitude of the great dog called Canis maior. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 215 The marrow of the great or holy bone. 1676 Moxon Tutor Astron. (ed. 3) 220 Canis Major, the Great Dog, it consisteth of 18 Stars. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. iii. 394 He received a deep wound by a knife struck into his thigh, that pierced the great artery. 1718 J. Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. (1730) I. viii. §1 The Vessel which is called the Aorta, Arteria magna, or Great Artery. 1842 E. Wilson Anat. Vade M. (ed. 2) 352 The Great Cardiac Vein commences at the apex of the heart. 1857 Bullock Cazeaux' Midwif. 27 The great pelvis has a very irregular figure, and forms a species of pavilion to the entrance of the pelvis. 1868 [see bear n.1 3]. 1886 Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v., Great dorsal muscle, the Latissimus dorsi..Great serrate muscle, the Serratus magnus. |
e. Prefixed to the names of many English villages or towns, to distinguish them from places having identical names with the prefix
Little, as in Great Malvern, Great Snoring (Norfolk); similarly to names of rivers, as the Great Ouse; to names of streets, as Great Portland Street.
f. In quasi-superlative sense, of a specified part of a building; of a particular building, monument, square, etc. in a town: Main, principal. (
Cf. grand 7 b.)
| 1598 Stow Surv. Lond. 385 William Rufus builded the great Hall there [Westminster] about the yeare of Christ, 1097. 1624 Wotton Archit. ii. 103 If the great Doore be Arched with some braue Head, cut in fine Stone or Marble for the Key of the Arch. 1822 Shelley Chas. I, 114 You torch-bearers advance to the great gate. 1900 Ch. Times 2 Feb. 119/3 Canon Gore will lecture on the Apostles' Creed..in the Great Hall of the Church House. |
† 7. Grown up; full-grown. Chiefly in
Hunting language, of animals above a particular age (see
quots.).
Obs.| 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 27 A quarter of moton, or ij hennes, or a grete ghoos. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E ij, A grete hynde a grete bucke and a fayre doo My sonnys where ye walke call ye hem so. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon v. 9 We be grete ynow to be made knyghtes. a 1547 in Gentl. Mag. (1813) May 427 Grene Gesse from Ester till mydsomer y⊇ pece, vjjd. Gesse grett from mydsomer tell shroftyde y⊇ pece, viijd. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Great Buck, the Sixth Year. Great Hare, the Third Year and afterwards. 1774 [see buck n.1 1 b]. |
8. a. Of collective unities, numbers, quantities, dimensions, etc. For
great deal,
many, see those words.
| c 950 Epist. Alex. in Anglia IV. 143 Ða [the columns] wæron unmetlice greate he[ah]nisse upp. [But the orig. has ingenti grossitudine atque altitudine; cf. sense 2.] c 1205 Lay. 306 Ane heorde of heorten swiðe greate. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 616 Þe quene..gret ost made & strong. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1178 Comyn to þe kyng in companies grete, Mony stithe man. 1411 Rolls of Parlt. III. 650/1 Greet noumbre of men armed. c 1420 Sir Amadas (Weber) 123 A marchande [was he]..and had greyt rentes be yere. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. ix. (1885) 130 How necessarie it is þat the kynge haue grete possescions. 1658 Jer. Taylor Let. in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 5 Her duty to you..does..make a very great part of her religion to God. 1662 John Smith England's Improv. Reviv'd (1670) 269 Great part of their Fish is sold in other Countries for ready Money. 1725 De Foe New Voy. (1840) 349 These lower lands lay great part of the year under water. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1842) I. 429 Military tenures..bound great part of the kingdom to a stipulated service. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 106 To raise a great army had always been the King's first object. |
† b. A great number or quantity of; many, much. Also
absol. Obs.| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas viii. i. (1554) 177 b, Full great bloud shad in that mortall fyght. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys Introd. (Roxb.) 4, I was taryed wyth greth reyn. c 1470 Harding Chron. xxx. iii, Greate people dyed. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 5 a, Let him take thereof in hys mouth so great as a small beane. 1676 Hobbes Iliad ii. 134 Great Dust they raised. |
c. the great body,
great majority,
great part, etc.: the larger portion or section (of).
| 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 159 To no such plan could the great body of Cavaliers listen with patience. 1895 F. Hall Two Trifles 2 Nor is this the sole uncouth trait that sullies the written style of the great body of our fellow-countrymen. |
d. great gross, twelve gross, 1728.
great hundred, a ‘long hundred’, 120.
† great million, a billion. (See the
ns.)
| 1533–4 [see hundred 3]. 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. i. 101, 1,124,002,590,827,719,680,000, that is, one thousand one hundred twentie foure millions of great millions, two thousand five hundred and ninetie great millions, eight hundred twenty seven thousand seven hundred and nineteene millions, sixe hundred and fourescore thousand. 1640 in Entick London (1776) II. 166 Catling, the great gross, qt. 12 small gross of knots. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs (1821) 125, 120 Ells, or one great hundred. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. x. 171 The hundred yards of canvas are the great hundred of 120. |
† e. a shilling great: a money of account equal to twelve Flemish groats.
a pound great (
= ‘pound of groats’): 20 ‘shillings great’.
Obs.| c 1483 Caxton Dial. Fr. & Eng. (1900) 51/25 A pounde grete, Moneye of flaundres. 1518 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 94 Tua s. grett Flandris money. 1527 Ibid. 119 Gilbert Menzeis, provest, tua lib. grit. 1546 Ibid. 234 Ane Flemis ell of welwet cost xi s. grit. |
9. a great while,
† great season,
† great time: a long while.
great age,
† great years: advanced age.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 22 So fer bare a woulfe þe hede, & kept it a grete while. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1667 Thare he lifed a grete sesowne With rotes and raw venysowne. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 489 That he should in so great yeares be set upon by two of his own sonnes. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 105 Like poyson giuen to worke a great time after. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 108 His great yeares were more propense to ease then tumult. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. v. §2 The great age of some men in ancient times, who are supposed to have lived 1000 years. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 3 Saxo making mention of such a Country a great while before. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 128 ¶7, I..have for a great while entertained the Addresses of a Man who I thought lov'd me more than Life. |
10. a. Of qualities, emotions, conditions, actions, or occurrences; with reference to degree or extent.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 231 Þat [he] heom wolde ȝearceon anæ grate laðienge and þider ȝeclepien all his underþeod. c 1205 Lay. 2284 Moni greatne dunt..þolede ich on folde. Ibid. 26396 Þæ andswarede þe kaisere mid grættere wræððe. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7730 He was..of grete strengþe. a 1300 Cursor M. 14219 His kin..for þair frend gret murning made. 1340 Ayenb. 222 He mai habbe grat merite ase to þe zaule. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 251 Som greet mischaunce, or greet disese. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 301 Gret ypocrisie. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 135 Grete worde of hym aroos. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 1102 She deide for gre[t] louyng. 1450 W. Lomner in Paston Lett. No. 93 I. 126 Wretyn in gret hast at London. 1506–7 Old City Acc. Bk. in Archæol. Jrnl. XLIII, To the gertte coost & damage of all the suters befor named & to ther grett hyndranse. 1521 Fisher Serm. agst. Luther Wks. (1876) 313 To the graete trouble and vexacyon of his chyrch. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John xviii. 40 The Iewes..with a great lowde voyce cryed [etc.]. 1561 Winȝet Cert. Tractates i. Wks. 1888 I. 6 Sa gret vproir, tumult, and terrible clamour. 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 333 The great heates are abated. 1624 N. De Lawne tr. Du Moulin's Logick 176 A man of great capacitie. 1670 Wood Life 12 Nov., He had, in his great reading, collected some old words for his use. 1714 Hearne in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 355, I will take great care of them. 1736 Fielding Pasquin v. Wks. 1784 III. 301 Places, requiring learning, and great parts. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 22 The Bishop..whose great popularity at Tours..made him a person of much consideration. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 101 The agitation was great in the capital. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. ii. 42 Great ignorance is the fruit of great poverty. |
† b. Of the pulse: High.
Obs.| 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 27 The Pulse is called great, high, or a full Pulse. |
III. In figurative extensions of branch II; important, elevated, distinguished.
11. a. Of things, actions, events: Of more than ordinary importance, weight, or distinction; important, weighty; distinguished, prominent; famous, renowned.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9287 Þe gret oþ þæt he suor. 1448 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 16 The quilk to do lelely and treuly the forsaid personis hes sworn the gret ath. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Magnus, Magnum facere, to doe some great mattier. 1655 Digges Compl. Ambass. 90 Great matters..could not but be full of great difficulties. 1675 tr. Machiavelli's Prince xvii. (Rtldg. 1883) 107 Instances of Hannibal's great conduct. 1760 C. Johnston Chrysal II. i. ii. 10, I dream'd..that I saw you at court, on some great occasion. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 42 These little things are great to little man. 1821 Byron Stanzas (first line), O talk not to me of a name great in story. 1825 Lamb Vision of Horns in Eliana (1871) 31 This shows that use is a great thing. 1840 J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) II. 315, I do not think anything great of the Continental churches, as you seem to think, or of the Roman Catholics at home. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 469 The executive government could undertake nothing great without the support of the Commons. Ibid. vi. II. 100 The great foundations of Eton, Westminster, and Winchester. Ibid. vii. II. 227 He had studied no great model of composition, with the exception..of our noble translation of the Bible. 1865 Tennyson Captain 19 He..Hoped to make the name Of his vessel great in story. 1872 Punch 21 Sept. 118/2 If you can't command an entire language, it's a great thing to have a small effective force at your disposal for manœuvres. 1887 Lowell Old Eng. Dram. (1892) 76 There is the same confusion at times of what is big with what is great. |
b. Of times, days, etc.: Having important results; critical. (See also
Great day in 20.)
| a 1400 Prymer 69 A greet dai, & a ful bitter. 1703 Rowe Fair Penit. i. i. 148 That minute sure was lucky. Oh 'twas great. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 35 The great day of the Exclusion Bill. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 202 It is one of the great moments in the ascensive work begun by Stephen. |
c. (With
the.) Important among all others of the kind; pre-eminent in importance; chief, main.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 456 (505) Þere was some Epistel hem by-twene, That wolde..wel contene Neigh half þis bok..How sholde I þanne a lyne of it endyte? But to þe grete effect. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. v. §7 This..was the great rule the Jews went by. 1676 tr. Guillatiere's Voy. Athens 175 Their Doctrine..is at this day the great Theme of our Schools. 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales II. 3 We have been able to scan a few of the secondary causes..of nature, and think we are thus prepared to form some feeble notion of the First Great Cause. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxix, The great attraction was a pamphlet called The Thunderer. |
d. As applied to nations, cities, etc., this sense blends with the literal senses relating to spatial or numerical magnitude (see 6, 8);
esp. in
great power. In poetical use the
adj. sometimes precedes the name of a city, etc.
| 13.. K. Alis. 1476 His lettres come In to the cite of gret Rome. [Cf. 1483 Caxton Dial. 22/22 The pope of rome, which duelleth at auynyon, that by right shold be at gret rome (Fr. c 1340 a grand romme).] 1398 [see city 2]. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. ix. 10 Great Troy is ours. 1612 Bacon Ess., Greatn. of Kingdoms (Arb.) 468 He could not fiddle; but he could make a small Towne to become a great Citie. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. 7 The Quakers..are become a great people. 1735–8 Bolingbroke On Parties 11 They, who are eager..to sacrifice her Commerce, by intangling Her..with the other great Powers of Europe. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, La Motte avoided the great towns. 1863 [see power n.1 6 b]. 1876 Carlyle Let. Nov. in H. J. Nicoll Carlyle (1885) ix. 231 The thing to be desired is concord between the three Great Powers. 1955 Times 11 May 10/3 Diplomatists remark, however, that Moscow invariably speaks of a meeting of the Great Powers rather than the four Powers. 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 686/3 An agreement with Russia which would restore Germany's great-power status. |
12. a. Of persons: Eminent by reason of birth, rank, wealth, power, or position; of high social or official position; of eminent rank or place. (In poetry often prefixed to a proper name.)
the great world [
= F.
le grand monde]: aristocratic society.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10111 An grete erles doȝter. a 1300 Cursor M. 12063 Þe gret lauerdinges. 1340 Ayenb. 256 Senekes zayþ þet þer ne lackeþ to greate lhordes bote zoþ ziggeres. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vi. (1885) 122 The payment off the wages and ffees off the kynges grete officers. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xxii. 59 b, Which is not to be reputed as spoken of the women of bare estate or condition, but likewise of the great and notable dames. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 266 Let him liue about great persons and his best discourses will be lye-blowne with tales of honour. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 81 Dishes..much esteemed, and sought for by the Great Ones. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 2 ¶3, I avoid speaking of Things which may offend Great Persons. 1778 F. Burney Evelina xxiv. (1784) 201 During her residence in the great world. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxix, The secrets of grit folk..are just like the wild beasts that are shut up in cages. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 562 The great man, at whose frown, a few days before, the whole kingdom had trembled. 1851 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1894) I. 272 Thackeray says he is getting tired of being witty, and of the great world. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 181 Mr. Dickson was a great man in Sparston. |
b. Applied (more or less conventionally) to the Deity, or deities; also, to saints.
Great Mother,
tr. L.
mater magna,
i.e. Cybele.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 193 Þat grete god amon. ? a 1400 Ipomadon (Kölbing) 395 Grette god kepe the in hele. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. i. 154 To keepe our great Saint Georges Feast withall. 1594 ― Rich. III, v. v. 8 Great God of Heauen, say Amen to all. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 198 By great Mars, the Captaine of vs all. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. 120 While the Creator great His constellations set. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 269 The Great Mother. [Note] Magna mater, here applied to Dulness. 1802 Hymn, Great God, what do I see and hear? 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus xxxiv. 1 Great Diana protecteth us. Ibid. xxxv. 18 The Great Mother he surely sings divinely. 1898 Doyle Trag. Korosko vi. 156 That we should go cheerfully whither the Great Hand guides us. |
c. In exclamations, as
Great Cæsar,
Great Scott,
Great Sun!, meaningless euphemisms for
Great God! Also
Great-Scott v.
intr.| 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly I. viii. 164 Great sun! I think I see it now. Ibid. II. xiii. 195 Great Jehoshaphat!..can't you see when a gentleman is on the stump? 1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus 60 Great Scott! I must be bad! 1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat vi. 81 Great Cæsar! man,..you don't mean to say you have covered over carved oak with blue wall-paper? 1892 Tit Bits 19 Mar. 416/1 (Farmer) Great Cæsar! There you go again! 1902 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Weekly 6 Dec. 9/1 ‘Ger-reat Scott!’ ejaculated the Major... The secretary said, wonderingly: ‘Why, what are you Great-Scotting about, Major?’ 1947 Mind LVI. 356 Lord Russell mentions an exciting moment in 1894... He suddenly had a flash of apparent insight..exclaiming: ‘Great Scott, the ontological argument is sound!’ 1963 Wodehouse Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves i. 10 ‘You don't mean that old crumb was there?’ I said, Great-Scott-ing. |
d. the Great (following a proper name): (
a) merely as an honorific epithet (
obs. or
arch.); (
b) appended as a title to the names of certain historical persons, chiefly monarchs, implying both that the person so designated is the most famous person of the name, and that he ranks among the great men of history. (
Cf. grand a.
1)
The latter use, which is paralleled in all the modern European langs., is inherited from the similar application of L.
magnus,
Gr. ὁ µέγας. But in modern times the
adj. in this formula has come to be apprehended in sense 15.
| 1382 Wyclif Rev. xvii. 5 Babilon the greet, modir of fornycaciouns, and of abhomynaciouns of erthe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10474 Agamynon the gret. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 24 This noble Charlemayn, otherwyse called Charles the grete. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 5 That myghtie kyng..Alexander the great. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 136 It pleased them to thinke me worthie of Pompey the great. 1658 Browne Gard. Cyrus ii. 41 Charles the great. 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 294/2 Alexander III., commonly called the Great, son of Philip II. king of Macedon. 1862 Burton Bk. Hunter (1885) 159 Napoleon was little, so was Frederic the Great [etc.]. |
e. In the titles of certain sovereigns.
the Great King: in
Greek History, the King of Persia. For
the Great Cham,
Mogul,
Turk, see
cham, etc.
| 1849 Grote Greece ii. lxii. (1862) V. 397 The Great King. |
f. Used in official titles with the sense: Chief over others;
= grand a. 2;
e.g. great duke,
great master (hence
great mastership),
great preceptor,
great prior (hence
† great prior's herb, tobacco), etc. (
Cf. high.)
Obs. exc. in
Lord Great Chamberlain.
| 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 916 The great chamberlayn, le chambrier. 1547 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 248 Grit admirale of Scotland. 1547 Gardiner Let. to Dk. Somerset in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 741 When I was in commission with my Lord great master and the Erle of Sowthampton. 1577 Frampton Joyful News ii. 42 b, Others haue named it [tobacco] the greate Priours hearbe, for that hee caused it to multiplie in Fraunce, more then any other. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 70 Great Marshall to Henry the sixt. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. ii. v, When this, the glorious badge Of our Redeemer, was conferred upon thee By the Great Master [of the Order of St. John of Malta]. 1667 Observ. Burning Lond. in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 448 That the great duke..had so depopulated the country. 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4322/2 His Grace made a Visit to the Great Pensionary. 1721 Ibid. No. 5918/1 The Pope's Bulls for the Great Mastership of St. Lazarus. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., We say, the lord great chamberlain, the great marshal of Poland, &c. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 274 The count of Provana, great hospitaler. 1848 Secret Societies, Templars 244 The Great-priors, Great-preceptors, or Provincial Masters..of the three Provinces of Jerusalem, Tripoli, and Antioch. 1881 J. Russell Haigs v. 101 Alexander Home of that Ilk..who then [1490] held the high office of Great Chamberlain of Scotland. |
g. In the derisive titles
the Great Unpaid,
Great Unwashed: see the
ppl. adjs. h. great (white) father,
great chief, etc. (also with capital initials). A term of address
orig. used by American Indians to refer to the President of the United States; now
usu. transf. and ironical.
Cf. chief n. 6 b.
| 1808 Z. M. Pike Sources Mississ. 5, I spoke to them [sc. Indians] to the following purport: ‘That their great father, the president of the United States, [etc.]’. 1832 F. Trollope Dom. Manners Amer. I. xx. 314 All the chiefs who..have come to negociate with their great father, as they call the President. 1881 Harper's Mag. Apr. 671/1 Spotted Tail has been to the Great Father's house so often that he has learned to tell lies and deceive people. 1936 Time 25 May 11/1 The Indians came bearing gifts, a blanket for the Great White Father [sc. President Roosevelt], a ring for the Great White Mother. 1937 Discovery Sept. 276/1 The ‘Proclamation of the Great White King’ which granted this clan ‘complete protection from the interference of strangers in this reserved area which the White King had given’. 1960 Ontario Legislature Debates 6 Dec. 247/2 And when they had it arranged, the great white father blows into town and gives the people a party. 1963 Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 272 The disparaging use of the term Great White Father for the superintendent, an unpopular authoritarian figure, appears to be limited to the staff, only half of whom are Indian. 1966 Listener 15 Dec. 895/1 To call a discussion influenced by such low-grade remarks as these..‘a brisk intellectual exercise’ can only suggest how little the great white scientist expects of the natives. 1966 ‘A. York’ Eliminator iv. 73 She acknowledges you as the great white chief. |
13. Of things: Pertaining to or occupied by persons of high place or rank.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 596 (Trin.) Þou maist aske wiþouten blame, Whi god him ȝaf so greet a name. 1612 Bacon Ess. (title), Of Great Place. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 427 When any of great place dyeth. a 1678 C'tess Warwick Autobiog. (Percy Soc.) 13 He was descended from a very great and honourable family. 1709 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) II. 197 He being not of great Birth, as appears from his arms. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xi. III. 24 The great office of Groom of the Stole. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. 7 They were going to a very great house. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 298 He was of a great family, and a man of influence at Athens. |
† 14. Distinguished in appearance; of lofty or imposing aspect; ‘of elevated mien’ (J.).
Obs.| 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xi. 46 Certayne monumentes of olde walles beyng of great apparence. 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Trav. i. 56 They wear this Cap..with a Handkerchief of fine stuff, wrought with flowers of Gold and Silk, which makes them look Great. 1697 Dryden æneid i. 708 Such Dido was; with such becoming State, Amidst the Crowd, she walks serenely great. |
15. Of persons: Extraordinary in ability, genius, or achievement.
a. With explicit reference to some special department or kind of activity. (Qualifying an agent-noun or some equivalent personal designation; also predicatively with
in or
as.)
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 665 Þe grete clerk Innocent. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 11 A great scholler. 1605 ― Oth. i. i. 19 A great Arithmatician. 1718 Freethinker No. 63 ¶5 The Great Poet, and the Great Painter, think alike. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 30 Great in council and great in war. 1893 Bookman June 82/2 The great magician. 1894 Law Times XCVII. 387/2 If he was great as an advocate, he was still greater as a judge. |
b. In wider sense (usually qualifying
man): Eminent in point of mental or moral attainments or magnitude of achievement; of transcendent qualities in thought or action; exhibiting signal excellence in some important work. In recent use, the designation is often felt to imply in addition more or less attribution of loftiness and integrity of character.
| 1709 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) II. 247 That Great and Good Man, Dr. Henry Aldrich. 1792 Burke Corr. (1844) III. 419 He is a great man, eloquent in conception and in language. 1861 J. Pycroft Ways & Words 19 We may call all men Great who have succeeded in stamping their character on the generations among which they lived. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 320 A great man art thou grown; Thou know'st not fear or lies. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 201 Themistocles, Pericles, and other great men. Ibid. V. 75 The truly great man is not a lover of himself but of justice. 1898 J. Caird Univ. Serm. 261 The great man is he who approaches more nearly than others to the ideal of man's nature. |
c. Of the soul, ideas, etc.: Lofty, magnanimous, noble.
| 1726 Gay Fables i. xvii. 19 Great souls with generous pity melt. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 185 ¶12 Nothing can be great which is not right. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 119 Great is song Used to great ends. 1884 (title) Great Thoughts from Master Minds. 1897 H. Drummond Ideal Life 107 Great living is being appreciated for its own sake. |
16. In certain colloquial or trivial uses developed from the preceding senses.
a. predicatively. Having considerable knowledge (of a subject) or extraordinary skill (in doing something);
const. at,
† in.
great on: of considerable knowledge or experience in, conversant with; hence, much interested in or occupied with.
a great one for (
cf. one 15 c).
| 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs I. 344 The very air of the south of France is almost a specific for it [consumption], to say nothing of the faculty there, who are peculiarly great in this malady. 1844 Dickens Christmas Carol iii, At the game of How, When and Where, she was very great. 1859 Thackeray Virgin. xvi, He was great at cooking many of his Virginian dishes. 1862 Tyndall Mountaineer. x. 82, I am not great at finding tracks. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 95 A great hand with his cricket-bat. 1878 Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. i. 12 He is very ‘great’ on dogs. 1884 Gilmour Mongols xxvii. 323 They are also great on fur caps, and one may sometimes meet a man wearing a cap worth as much as all the rest of his clothes put together. 1927 C. Asquith Black Cap 100 Now Mrs. Mingle, unlike Hetty, had been a great one for reading. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 13 There's David. One o' them fancy lads—a good soldier and fond o' the ladies—but a great one for 'is church. 1957 J. Kirkup Only Child ix. 127 Isa was a great one for the proprieties. |
b. Of surpassing excellence; hence, used as a (more or less) rapturous term of admiration: ‘Magnificent’, ‘splendid’, ‘grand’, ‘immense’. Also as
int. U.S. and
colloq. In
Racing and
Coursing, in
phr. to run a great filly,
dog, etc.: said of a horse or dog that runs a fine race.
| 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1849) 88 She..could get along very nearly as fast with the wind ahead, as when it was a-poop, and was particularly great in a calm. 1839 Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. II. 225 The word great is oddly used for fine, splendid. ‘She's the greatest gal in the whole Union’. 1868 G. Wilkes Introd. to H. Woodruff's Trotting Horse Amer., At the end of a few years [he] gave a great animal to the country in place of what had been only a good animal before. 1895 Daily News 18 Oct. 3/2 Amphora and..Attainment, the two top weights in the Orleans Nursery, ran a great race. 1897 R. Kipling Capt. Cour. i. 5 Say, wouldn't it be great if we ran one [a boat] down? 1897 Daily News 20 Feb. 9/2 [In hare-coursing] Gallant ran a great dog. 1898 Ibid. 20 June 7/2 Winsome Charteris ran a great filly. 1967 Listener 12 Oct. 465 Great! I see a great headline. 1968 Ibid. 26 Sept. 423/2 Gary's mum's bread pudding is great. 1969 D. Francis Enquiry v. 66 ‘We're going down to the yard.’ ‘Great,’ said Roberta... ‘I'll come too.’ |
17. Qualifying a descriptive
n. a. Qualifying the designation of (
a) a person or (
b) a thing, with the sense: Eminently entitled to the designation, especially remarkable for the quality indicated.
| (a) c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 81 Men ben grete foolis þat bien þes bulles of pardon so dere. 1460 Paston Lett. No. 349 I. 512 Radclyf and ze bene grete frendes. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. cxl. [cxxxvi.] 391 A Scotte (who be great theves) had stollen hym awaye. 1622 in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) II. 306 Sir Anthony Magnie, a great papist. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 83 When we came into the channel, our pilot seemed to be as great a stranger to it as myself. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 202 One Mrs. Steward, reckoned a very great Beauty. 1802 H. Martin Helen of Glenross I. 106 He and his great friend here had a row about her. 1828 P. Cunningham N.S. Wales II. 249 A great scoundrel. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb ix, The dominie's nae gryte deykin at the common coontin' 'imsel'. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 177 Plumer and Thornton were great friends. |
| (b) a 1599 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 672/2 A Burse⁓holder over them should not onlye be a greate indignitye, but also a daunger. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 93 They are persuaded 'tis a great preservative of health. 1676 tr. Guillatiere's Voy. Athens 15 We observed the Standard of Savoy, as great a rarity as the other. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 340 Unless there happen to be Trees, which is a great chance in such Sandy, Wild, and Desert Places. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. xx. (1840) 361 It was a great chance we were not all devoured. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 15/2 In this state it is a great dainty for those who disregard a pungent and fetid smell. a 1900 Mod. The exhibition was a great fiasco. |
b. With an agent-noun or its equivalent: That is much in the habit of performing the action. Also, with
n. indicating employment, function, ownership, etc.: That is such on a large scale.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. (1887) I. 319 He schal beo..Of nesche her and no-þing crips, gret slepare and slovȝ þar⁓to. a 1300 Cursor M. 2205 Reuer and man-queller gret. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 339 An householdere, and that a greet was he. 1573 L. Lloyd Pilgr. Princes (1586) 140 A fishe called Varus..is a great murtherer and a spoyler of Frogges. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner K viij, The Jewes are great Goose-eaters. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. iii. 90, I am a great eater of beefe. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 323 To marry so great an inheritrix. 1670 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 21 So grat a hors woman. 1706 Pope Let. to Wycherley 10 Apr., The great Dealers in Wit. 1870 W. Arnot in A. Fleming Life x. (1877) 442 They are great introducers, hand shakers, questioners. 1894 Season X. No. 9. 36/2 For great dancers plain satin shoes are the most economical. |
18. Much in use or request; high in favour
with; favourite. In some cases hardly distinguishable from sense 19.
| c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 92 He was so gret wyth þe Emperour. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 73 She was grete wyth the quene and wel belouyd. 1530 Palsgr. 426, I am in favour, or I am great, or in conceyte with a person. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 64 It is his desire also that they should become great or in fauour with God in heauen. 1685 Stillingfl. Orig. Brit. iv. 190 This St. German was so great with Hilary, Bishop of Arles, that [etc.]. 1704 Key to Dk. Buckhm.'s Rehearsal iii. i. (Arb.) 70 [Ay, 'tis pretty well; but he does not Top his Part.] A great Word with Mr. Edward Howard. |
19. Intimate, familiar, friendly; ‘thick’
with. Now only
dial. [
App. not directly connected with
great friends (sense 17 a).]
| 1483 Vulgaria abs Terentio 3 b, They are grete or homely to gydre. 1516 in E. Lodge Illustr. Brit. Hist. I. ix. (1791) 19 My Lord Cardynall & S{supr} Will{supm} Compton be marvelous gret. 1662 J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 111 The General of the Jesuits order and he, you may be sure, were great. 1668–9 Pepys Diary 16 Jan., The Duchess of York and the Duke of York are mighty great with her. 1690–1 Lady Russell Let. 5 Feb., The dean and he are not great; that is, I mean the dean is not his creature. 1707 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) II. 61 Mr. Laughton..was very great with most of the Non-Jurors. 1714 Swift Imit. Horace ii. vi. 85 My lord and he are grown so great, Always together, tête à tête. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iii. ii, Awa, awa! the deil's owre grit wi' you. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil ii. vii. (1840) 261 As great as the devil and Dr. Faustus. 1728 Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. iii. Wks. (1730) 249, I love her dearly already, we are growing very great together. 1788 Cowper Let. 6 May, Wks. 1836 VI. 153 When people are intimate, we say they are as great as two inkle-weavers. 1799 T. Moore Let. 14 Nov. in Mem. (1853) I. 96 Johnson and I got very great: he is to introduce me to Colman, the manager and author. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., Sam's very great wi' Mr...If he'd nobbut keep fra drink he mud stop there for ivver. 1877 Holderness Gloss. s.v., Oor lad an your's is varry greeat just noo. |
IV. Combinations.
20. In syntactical combination with
ns., forming designations for the most part normally preceded by the definite article.
Great Bible, the name commonly given to the English version of the Bible by Coverdale in 1539; sometimes applied also to the revised editions of this,
esp. to Cranmer's Bible of 1540;
Great book [F.
grand livre ‘ledger’], the general list of the creditors of the (French) state;
Great British Public, a jocular,
usu. ironic, way of referring to the British people;
cf. G.B.P. (
s.v. G III. f);
Great Canon, (
a)
Greek Ch. the longest canon of odes (see
canon n.1 7 b); (
b)
Printing (see 6 b and
canon n.1 11);
Great Cham, a nickname applied to Samuel Johnson;
Great Dane (see
Dane 2);
Great day, (
a) the Day of Judgement (see
day n. 8 b); (
b) Easter Day; (
c) a feast- or fast-day of high importance;
(Great) Deliverer, a title given to King William III;
Great fast, the season of Lent;
Great forty days, the forty days which intervened between Christ's resurrection and ascension; the corresponding season in the ecclesiastical year from Easter to Ascension Day;
great game, (
a) golf; (
b) spying;
Great house, (
a) a designation often given to the principal house of a district, usually that of a large proprietor; (
b)
slang or
dial., the workhouse: usually called
big house;
great insertion, the section of
St. Luke's Gospel, ix. 51–xviii. 14, which is independent of
St. Mark;
Great lake, a humorous term for the Atlantic Ocean;
Great Lakes (see
lake n.4);
Great Leap Forward, an attempt begun in 1958 by which the leadership of the People's Republic of China sought to stimulate industrial and other forms of production by the use of advanced techniques, and thereby transform China rapidly into a modern socialist state; also
ellipt. as
Great Leap, and
transf.;
† Great mean (string) Mus. (see
quot.);
great omission,
St. Mark vi. 45–viii. 26, which is omitted in
St. Luke;
great red spot Astr., an oval feature in the outer gas of the planet Jupiter,
occas. red but now
usu. pink in colour;
† great relief, ?
= alto-relievo;
† great road [F.
grande route], the high road;
great thought, a maxim, an apophthegm; now
freq. used ironically;
great tradition, a phrase employed by F. R. Leavis (1895–1978) to denote the corpus of great English fiction;
Great War, (
a) the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793–1815; (
b) the war which began on 28 July 1914 with hostilities between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, and ultimately involved the majority of the nations of the world; it was suspended by armistice 11 Nov. 1918;
Great week = Holy week;
Great White Way, Broadway in New York City, in reference to the brilliant street illumination. See also
Great assize n.,
Britain,
charter (
n.1 1 a),
circle (
n. 2 a, b),
climacteric,
commoner (3),
death n. (7 b),
entrance (2), generals (B. 2 e),
habit (
n. 2 b),
horse (
n. 21),
inquest (
n.),
oath,
organ,
plague,
pox,
scale,
schism,
sea,
seal,
tithe,
toe,
year1, etc.; also main words below.
| 1553 (title) The Bible in Englishe according to the translation of the *great Byble. 1835 Penny Cycl. IV. 374/2 The Great Bible, or Cranmer's. 1882 H. Morley Eng. Lit. 254 In April of the same year, 1539, appeared Coverdale's revision of Tyndal's work and his own, in the folio known as Cromwell's (or the Great) Bible. |
| 1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 54 Inscriptions on the *Great Book of the French National Debt cannot be attached. |
| 1866 J. Blackwood Let. 26 June in Geo. Eliot's Lett. (1955) IV. 279 The ‘*Great British Public’ is not yet sufficiently aware of the book [sc. Felix Holt] to affect the sale. 1924 J. Doe in M. Joseph Journalism for Profit xii. 210 The next business in hand is getting on the right side of the Great British Public. 1927 T. E. Lawrence Let. 30 Dec. (1938) iv. 562 The soul of the great British public will be turned with rage at its surfeit of my rareness and virtuosity. 1932 Q. D. Leavis Fiction & Reading Public i. iii. 38 The major achievements of contemporary novelists appear to be unknown even by name to that part of the community journalists call the Great British Public. 1968 ‘L. Marshall’ Blood on Blotter xvi. 108 The Great British Public would sooner eat dry bread and processed cheese..in a house they thought was tops, than enjoy a good meal in a place that didn't have any reputation. |
| 1850 Neale Holy Eastern Ch. 876 The *Great Canon, sung on Thursday of Passion Week [read the 4th Week of Lent]..at Lauds, after the fifty-first Psalm. |
| 1759 *Great Cham [see cham]. 1958 P. Kemp No Colours or Crest vii. 146, I would jerk awake to find myself declaiming one of the magisterial pronouncements of the Great Cham. |
| 1542–5 Brinklow Lament. 2 b, What shalbe layed agaynst you at the *greate daye of the Lorde. 1583, 1690 [see day n. 8 b]. 1710 Whitworth Acc. Russia (1758) 39 On great days a little fish, or milk, if it is not a fast. 1751 Jortin Serm. (1771) V. iii. 54 Such sinners are reserved for the judgement of the great day. 1812 Brady Clavis Calend. I. 285 Easter Sunday was..antiently called the Great Day, and the Feast of Feasts. |
| 1886 C. M. Yonge Chantry House I. x. 92 There was a dissenting chapel, old enough to be overgrown with ivy.., erected by the Nonconformists in the reign of the *Great Deliverer. 1898 S. Weyman Shrewsbury xi. 101 ‘The Deliverer’, as the Whig party still love to call him, landed at Torbay. 1969 Listener 9 Oct. 475/2 A gilded equestrian statue of William III. Erected in 1734..and inscribed ‘To the Great Deliverer’. |
| 1868 Romanoff Sk. Greco-Russ. Ch. 120 The *Great Fast approaches, preceded by three preparatory weeks. |
| 1844 G. Moberly (title) The Sayings of the *Great Forty Days, between the Resurrection and Ascension. |
| 1866 J. Blackwood Let. 26 Apr. in Geo. Eliot's Lett. (1955) IV. 245 The old golf ball maker's shop is associated in my mind..with elevating talks about ‘the *great game’. 1901 Kipling Kim vii. 183 When he comes to the Great Game he must go alone—alone, and at peril of his head. 1961 Guardian 17 Mar. 10/7 Some John Buchan hero, busily playing the Great Game for Queen and Country. 1964 ‘J. Welcome’ Hard to Handle ii. 28 Originally the Secret Service..was entrusted to amateurs..who played ‘the great game’, as they romantically called it, amongst themselves. |
| 1809–10 Coleridge Friend (1818) I. 251 The mansion of a neighbouring Baronet, awfully known to me by the name of the *Great House. 1834 West Ind. Sketch Bk. I. 161 To leeward of ‘the great house’. note The ‘great house’ is a term commonly applied by the Negroes to the proprietor's dwelling, in contradistinction to their own. 1851 Borrow Lavengro III. xix. 232 ‘What do you mean by the great house?’ ‘The workhouse’. 1877 L. Jennings Field Paths & Green Lanes xiii. 178 ‘Why, Sir’, said he, ‘we be a goin' to kill him [a sheep] directly after dinner for the great house’. |
| 1911 J. V. Bartlet in Stud. Synoptic Problem 336 The part of Luke's Gospel prior to the *Great Insertion. 1927 A. H. McNeile Introd. N.T. 26 The next non-Marcan block, [Luke] ix. 51–xviii. 14, containing more than 30 per cent. of the Third Gospel, is often called the ‘Great Insertion’. |
| 1772 in Sparks Life & Writ. Gouv. Morris (1832) I. 19, I know others that never saw the east side of the *great lake. |
| [1958 China Reconstructs May 14 (heading) 1958—Year of the Forward Leap.] 1958 N.Y. Times 18 Nov. 6/3 Jawaharlal Nehru talked of what Peiping likes to call the *great ‘leap forward’ campaign—of millions of people being herded into communes, of steel furnaces sprouting in everyone's backyard, of peasants being marched to the fields like soldiers to the parade ground. 1959 Economist 25 Apr. 322/1 The People's Congress opened in Peking last Saturday; Mr Chou En-lai, the prime minister..reviewed the government's past achievements and future plans. His oration was later described as a ‘book of history and poetry summing up the success of China's great leap forward’. 1963 D. J. Dwyer in China Now (1974) xi. 234 The tremendous spurt in coal production recorded in 1958 was..directly related to the official ‘Great Leap Forward’ of that year. 1971 Guardian 25 Nov. 12/2 Peking through two great leaps forward—the New Literature Movement in 1919 and the Han Character Simplification Movement in 1955— evolved new ideographs. 1972 Korea Times 18 Nov. 2/1 We now anticipate a great leap toward the 1980s in national advancement, with the per capita national income to reach the $1,000 level by 1981. 1975 A. Watson Living in China v. 130 The collapse of many of the Great Leap policies also led to a cut back in these irregular schools and universities. 1983 G. Priestland At Large 66 Members [of the General Synod of the Church of England] have been bombarded with letters and petitions either imploring them to take the great leap forward [to unity with Nonconformist churches], or warning them to stay where they are. |
| 1674 Playford Skill Mus. ii. 92 The Bass-Viol..is usually strung with six strings..which..are known by six several Names; the first..is called the Treble; the second the small Mean; the third, the *Great Mean. Ibid. 112 For the Tuning of your Violin..the Bass or fourth string is called G sol re ut..the third or great Mean, D la sol re. |
| 1911 J. C. Hawkins in Stud. Synoptic Problem 61 This well deserves its usual name of St. Luke's ‘*great omission’. 1927 A. H. McNeile Introd. N.T. 26 Whether intentionally or not he [sc. St. Luke] omits [Mark] vi. 45–viii. 26, which is sometimes called the ‘Great Omission’. |
| 1881 Monthly Not. R. Astr. Soc. XLI. 44 The *great red spot..has maintained a constancy of appearance and regularity of motion. 1936 F. Reh Astron. for Layman xviii. 243 Occasionally a more or less fixed spot appears. Such a spot is the so-called ‘great red spot’..still faintly visible in good photographs. 1967 P. Moore Amat. Astron. Gloss. 61 Of particular interest is the Great Red Spot, which can be traced on drawings made as long ago as 1631. It became prominent in 1878, and is still conspicuous, though it has been known to vanish temporarily. It is decidedly pinkish in colour; its exact nature is uncertain, though presumably it is a solid or semi-solid body floating in Jupiter's outer gas. |
| 1654–66 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa (1676) 518 The Plinth of each of them was beautified with Sculptures of *great Relieve. |
| 1772 T. Simes Mil. Guide (1781) 12 The heavy artillery in general keeps the *great road. |
| 1821 Hazlitt Table-T xi. 253 *Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts. 1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. i. iv. 48 A calendar of Great Thoughts was roughly divested of ninety-eight great thoughts at once, in order that..a correct announcement should celebrate the ninth of April. a 1916 ‘Saki’ Coll. Short Stories (1930) 407 A William the Conqueror calendar..with a quotation of one of his greatest thoughts for every day in the year. 1925 A. Huxley Along Road i. 67 There is nothing more dismal than a ‘Great Thought’ enunciated by an author who has not himself the elements of greatness. 1969 K. Giles Death cracks Bottle iii. 23 ‘How nice!’ said Noni, with what passed with her for wit. ‘Any more great thoughts on offer?’ |
| 1948 F. R. Leavis Great Tradition i. 7 By ‘*great tradition’ I mean the tradition to which what is great in English fiction belongs. 1969 Guardian 21 Aug. 8/3 The inheritors of Leavis's Great Tradition..mutter about pretentious, jumped-up, pulp writers. 1970 Ibid. 16 Sept. 10/3 You can't go on writing Leavisite criticism when you've reviewed everything that relates to the great tradition. 1971 Human World Nov. 88 The Great Tradition from Jane Austen to Conrad is that of the fine individual consciousness, typically considered under the aspect of conscience, implying self-knowledge and self-transcendence. |
| 1887 R. D. Blackmore (title) Springhaven. A tale of the *Great War. 1911 J. W. Fortescue (title) British Statesmen of the Great War 1793–1814. 1914 Maclean's Mag. Oct. 53/1 Some wars name themselves... This is the Great War. 1915 Grahame-White & Harper (title) Aircraft in the Great War. 1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow xxii. 238 Luther was reality—like the Great War. 1922 S. Weyman Ovington's Bank i. 7 By that coach had come eleven years before, the news of the abdication of the Corsican and the close of the Great War. Laurelled and flagged, it had thrilled the town a year afterwards with the tidings of Waterloo. 1923 [see gallery-play s.v. gallery n. 12 b]. 1925 D. H. Lawrence Refl. Death Porcupine 61 Even the great war does not alter our civilization one iota, in its total nature. 1937 [see atrocity 5]. 1969 A. Toynbee Experiences ii. iii. 221 ‘The Great War’—as, until the fall of France, the British continued to call the First World War in order to avoid admitting to themselves that they were now again engaged in a war of the same magnitude. |
| 1659 H. L'Estrange Alliance of Divine Offices v. 151 It [Holy Week] became to be stiled also The *great Week. 1812 Brady Clavis Calend. I. 266 The week was called the ‘Great Week’, in token of the inestimable blessings bestowed upon mankind, through the merits and sufferings of our Saviour. |
| 1901 A. B. Paine (title) The *great white way. 1908 G. V. Hobart Go to It 22 Eight weeks since we left Chicago, three shows to the bad, and still a thousand miles from the Great White Way. 1936 H. Miller Black Spring 248 The Great White Way is blazing with spark-plugs. 1967 Act One Scene Two ii. Nov./Dec. 12/3 All we can do is to keep our bit of the Oxford Playhouse staked out worthily along the Great White Way. |
21. Prefixed to certain terms denoting kinship (
viz. uncle,
aunt,
nephew,
niece, and the compounds of
grand-), to form designations for persons one degree further removed in ascending or descending relationship. The prefix may be repeated any required number of times to express progressively more and more remote degrees of relationship. Nonce-uses of the prefix are
great-cousin,
great-father,
great-sire (see below), and
perh. great kinsman (
Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. iii. 53, where however the
adj. may have sense 12). [After F.
grand (see
grand A. 12 b), which follows the example of Latin
avunculus magnus great-uncle,
amita magna great-aunt.]
a. great-uncle,
-aunt, a father's or mother's uncle, aunt;
great-nephew,
-niece, a son's or daughter's nephew, niece;
† great-cousin (
nonce-wd.), a first cousin once removed;
† great father,
sire, (
nonce-wds.), a grandfather.
| 1656 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §752. 235 Above these are, great-unkle and *great-aunt by the father's side, unkle and aunt by the father's side in the third degree. 1870 Lubbock Orig. Civiliz. iv. (1875) 188 When great uncles and aunts are termed grandfathers and grandmothers. |
| 1742 Collectanea (O.H.S.) II 387 He..had a *great-cousin master of an estate. Ibid. 388. |
| 1484 Caxton æsop v. i. (1889) 128 And the mule ansuerd, my *grete fader was a hors. |
| 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 176 Chore (which was the *great Nephew of the Patriarke Leui). 1689 Wood Life 20 Dec., The said Mathew Slade also was great nephew, as 'tis said, of Mathew Slade who wrote against Vorstius. |
| 1884 Harper's Mag. Feb. 481/2 The *great-niece of Mrs. Barbauld. |
| 1704 N. N. tr. Boccalini's Pol. Touchstone 95 in Adv. fr. Parnassus iii, He prov'd himself a Grand Child worthy his *great Syre by his Mother's side. |
| 1438 Rolls of Parlt. V. 438 His Uncle Humfrey Duc of Gloucestre, his *grete Uncle H. Cardinal of England. a 1547 Will Hen. VIII in Pote Hist. Windsor Cas. (1749) 51 The tombes and aultars of King Henry VI. and also of King Edward IV. our great Uncle and graunt⁓father. a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 241 Geri, son of Bello Alighieri, and Dante's great-uncle. 1896 Daily News 23 Apr. 5/4 The Prince de Joinville, at once great⁓uncle and grandfather of the bride. |
b. With compounds of
grand:
great-grandfather,
-grandmother, a grandfather's or grandmother's father, mother (also
transf. a remote male or female ancestor); so
great-grandmamma,
great-grandparent,
great-granduncle;
great-grandfatherly,
great-grandparental adjs.;
great-grandchild, a grandchild's child;
great-grandson,
-granddaughter, a grandson's or granddaughter's son, daughter; so
great-grandniece. Also
† great-grandame, a great grandmother,
† great-grandsire, a great-grandfather.
| 1538 Elyot Dict., Proauia, my *great grandame. 1665 Needham Medela Medic. 33 Diseases of the Female Sex grown more severe than they were in the days of their great Grandames. |
| 1753 Scots Mag. Mar. 158/1 He has left 113 children, grandchildren, and *great-grandchildren. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises (ed. 3) II. 301 In Hussey v. Berkeley, Lord Northington expressed an opinion that the word grandchildren would, without further explanation, comprehend great grandchildren. |
| 1753 Scots Mag. Oct. 525/2 Miss Cromwel, *great-granddaughter of Oliver Cromwel. 1882 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 29 A great-granddaughter of Henry VII, Lady Jane Grey. |
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburghe i. 367 Ermenrycus, kynge of Kent..Vnto whom Engystus was *great-graundfather. 1555 Harpsfield in Bonner's Homilies 7 Oure great graundefather Adam. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 146 You shall reade that my great Grandfather Neuer went with his forces into France. 1624 Donne Serm. cxxx. Wks. 1839 V. 336 Here are risen grandfather and great-grandfather sins quickly, a froward generation. 1834 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) III. 40 The Flemings are the great-grandfathers of us English. 1869 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks xix. (1870) 198 Supposing I were a minister, as my father, and grandfather and great-grandfather were before me. |
| 1903 Daily Chron. 2 Jan. 5/2 Is 1903 to revert to the *great-grandfatherly ways of 1803? |
| 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. 133 A doting, scolding *great-grandmama. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 227/2 *Great graunde mother, aielle. 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 41 Our great grand mother Eve. 1712 Addison Spect. 295 ¶2 The Doctrine of Pin-money is of a very late Date, unknown to our Great Grandmothers. |
| 1804 E. de Acton Tale without a Title I. 45 Trustee to her *great-grand-niece. |
| 1883 Cornh. Mag. June 718 Our *great grandparents appear to have been excessively enamoured of masquerades. |
| 1929 19th Cent. Dec. 810 A collateral relative at the level of the grandparental or great-grandparental generation. |
| 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 145 Y⊇ *great grandsire. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 103 Goe..to your great Grandsires Tombe, From whom you clayme. 1636 G. Sandys Paraphr. Ps. xliv. 1 Wee have heard our Fathers tell The Wonders..To them by their great Grandsires told. 1814 Cary Dante, Par. xv. 90 My Son And thy great-grandsire. |
| 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 9 (1751) 49 No Body ever doubted that King George is *Great Grandson to King James the first. |
| 1808 Scott Mem. Early Life in Lockhart Life (1839) I. 5 William Scott of Raeburn, my *great-grand-uncle. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 123 His granduncle or his *greatgranduncle. |
c. With repetition of
great.
great(-great),
colloq. an ancestor or descendant of ‘great (-great)’ degree.
| 1651 tr. Wotton's Panegyr. K. Chas. in Reliq. 138 Your Great Great-Grand-father Henry the Seventh. 1747 Gentl. Mag. 199 At his death he was grandfather to 56, great grandfather to 19, great great grandfather to 11, and great great great grandfather to 4. 1819 Byron Juan i. lvi, Her great great grandmamma. 1823 Lockhart Reg. Dalton ii. ii. (1842) 105 That old body that says she is Shakespeare's great-great-great-great-great-great-grand-niece-in-law. 1825–7 Hone Every-day Bk. II. 899 The infant's godfathers..were..his great-great-great-great uncle; and..his great-great-great uncles. His godmothers..were..his great-great-great-great aunt;..his great-great-grandmother; and..his great-grandmother. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 723 Can we conceive a man marrying the great-great niece of his own brother-in-law? 1870 Ramsay Remin. i. (ed. 18) 4 My distinguished great-great-great-uncle, Bishop Burnett. 1884 Illustr. Lond. News 20 Dec. 602/1 The great-great-great-granduncle of the present Lord Walsingham. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 3 Oct. 7/2 A great-great-granddaughter of the author of the ‘School for Scandal’. 1905 Mrs. H. Ward Marriage W. Ashe i. ii. 33 ‘We—you and I—are a little bit cousins too, aren't we?’.. ‘Was our {oqq}great-great{cqq} the same person?’ he said, laughing. 1907 A. Quiller-Couch Major Vigoureux xxii, Your grandfathers and grandmothers, and right back into the greats and great-greats. 1926 W. R. Inge Lay Thoughts 181 Its great-great-grand-offspring. |
22. a. In parasynthetic adjectives, as
great-armed,
great-boned,
great-eared,
great-grained,
great-headed,
great-leaved,
great-lipped,
great-minded (so
great-mindedness),
great-named,
great-nosed,
† great reasoned,
great-sized,
great-souled,
great-spirited,
great-witted, etc.;
great-bellied, having a big belly; pregnant;
fig. ‘big’ with events, etc.;
great-eyed,
lit. having large or prominent eyes, as some animals;
fig. far-seeing, taking a large view;
† great-kind, of great or noble birth;
great-mouthed,
fig. loud-voiced; boastful, bragging;
† great-stomached, high-spirited (see
stomach);
† great-wombed, having a large abdomen.
† b. as complement to a
pass. pple., as
great-grown,
great-made.
| 1798 Southey Cross Roads viii, I wish It were a *great⁓arm'd chair! |
| 1572 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1577) 114 b, The Mares..to haue large bodyes..*greate bellyed, with large and square brest and buttockes. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 520 Plato..requireth that great bellied women should give themselves to walking. 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Matt. vi. 34 Thou knowest not what this great-bellied day may bring forth. 1665 Needham Medela Medic. 343 Great-bellied Women. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Ossudo, *great boned. 1634 Brereton Trav. (1844) 51 A man..not great-boned nor large-sized. |
| 1797–1804 T. Bewick Birds I. 64 The eagle-owl or *Great eared owl. |
| 1617 Minsheu Voc. Hisp. Lat., Ojudo, Magnoculus, *great-eyed. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Plato Wks. (Bohn) I. 306 The great-eyed Plato proportioned the lights and shades after the genius of our life. |
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. ii. i. (1651) 66 Hart, and Red Deer..a strong and *great grained meat. |
| c 1450 Merlin 117 He helde a shorte *grete growen spere, sharp grounden. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. viii. 63 Away..And take the great-growne Traytor vnawares. |
| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 84 Grey *grete-hedede quenes. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 160 Pochard..Also called..Great-headed wigeon. |
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7502 A *grete kynd [L. natu nobilis] man and a wyse. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 200 The *great-leaved magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) is a superb tree of tropical appearance. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Becudo, *great-lipped. |
| 1645 Quarles Sol. Recant. v. 13 Oft have I seen encreasing riches grow To be their *great-made Owners overthrow. |
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lxii. IV. 233 Always poor..but..*great-minded. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 70 b, For in her euery thing was goodly and stately; yet so, that it might seeme that *great-mindednes was but the auncient-bearer to humblenes. a 1832 Bentham Deontol. (1834) II. 62 Magnanimity is a word which, for popular use, might be conveniently translated into great-mindedness. |
| 1600 Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 215 *Great-mouthed Gloriosoes. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 126 This village dog ought to be..great mouthed, or barking bigly. |
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. viii. (Skeat) l. 112 How many *greate named, and many greate in worthinesse losed. |
| 1653 R. Sanders Physiogn. 158 He is *great-nosed. |
| 1529 More Dyal. 14 b/2 *Grete reasoned men and phylosophers haue dowted therof. |
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 147 A *great siz'd monster of ingratitudes. Ibid. v. x. 26 Thou great siz'd coward. |
| 1848 Buckley Iliad 248 The *great-souled son of Oïleus. |
| 1628 Ford Lover's Mel. i. i, My *great-spirited Sister. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 240 More liberty: where⁓withal a generous and *great stomached Beast is much delighted. |
| 1519 Interl. Four Elem. (Percy Soc.) 5 A *great wytted man may sone be enrychyd, That laboryth and studyeth for ryches only. |
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7731 Suiþe þikke mon he was & of grete strengþe *Gret wombede & ballede. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 567/18 Bafer, gret⁓wombed. |
B. adv. 1. In a great degree; to a great extent; greatly, exceedingly, highly; much; very.
Obs. exc. dial. In
† great cheap (
cheap n. 8, 9) the word is not an
adv.| a 1300 Cursor M. 7233 Þare es nan sa gret mai greif Als traitur dern and priue theif. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 501 In beldinge of tombes þei trauaileþ grete To chargen her chirche⁓flore. 1535 Coverdale Susanna 4 Now Ioachim..was a greate rich man. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 6 Thys yere was a grete dere yere. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 379 Say that he thriue, as 'tis great like he will [etc.]. 1609 Rowlands Dr. Merrie-man 6 Horses that labour great, Are cast in ditches for the Dogges to eate. 1736 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.), Great, very; as ‘great much’, very much. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Great likly, very likely. ‘Ay, ay, great likly, great likly’. |
† 2. Grossly, coarsely. (
Cf. A. 1.)
Obs.| c 1440 Ipomydon 1789 Fole, he sayd, þou bourdist grete. |
† 3. In a great, eminent, or distinguished fashion; imposingly.
Obs.| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 279 To pay their Respects to their Governor in Chief, who receives them very great. 1698 M. Lister Journ. Paris (1699) 105 He lives great, and has a House which joins upon the King's Library. |
† 4. Arrogantly, presumptuously, proudly.
Obs.| 1699 T C[ockman] Tully's Offices (1706) 130 'Tis a very unbecoming thing for a Man to talk great of himself in Discourse. |
† 5. With force; loudly.
Obs.| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 51 a, Nothinge doth profite unto helthe of the body, but to inforce him selfe to synge great, for therby moch aire drawen in by fetching of breth, thrusteth forth the breast and stomake. |
6. Comb. a. In syntactic combination with a
pres. or
pa. pple. of a verb which may be qualified by
great or
greatly, as
† great-begotten,
† great-born,
great-counselling,
great-doing (implied in
adv. † gret doendely),
great-triumphing.
b. With an
adj. (hyphened), as
great-important,
i.e. highly important.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xii. 5 Syngeth to the Lord, for gret doendely he dide. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 1155 He was grete borne. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 66 There is nothing more allied to faction then for a great-begotten to prevaile in governement before his time. 1627 Drayton Agincourt, etc. 39 Some great-borne Frenchman. 1711 Fingall MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 137 His great-triumphing army. Ibid. 138 Athlone..being the great-important pass into the province of Connaught. 1848 Buckley Iliad 28 Great-counselling Jove. |
C. as
quasi-n. and n. I. The
adj. used
absol. 1. a. As
pl.: Great persons;
freq. in the collocation
great and small. Now usually
the great: those who are great, eminent, or distinguished by rank, wealth, position, or the like.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 250 By gouernaunce of grete and of good age. a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2830 By þe grete, poer folk ben greuyd. Ibid. 5049 Men say two grete may nat in o sak. c 1440 Ipomydon 96 All spake of hym, bothe grete & smalle. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxx. 180 So as the great, may have no greater hope of impunity. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 97 Quacking Mountebanks are admitted in the Bed⁓chambers of great and small. 1757 Gray Progr. Poesy (end), Beneath the Good how far—but far above the Great. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxi. III. 208 The houses and society of the great. 1785 Burns Holy Willie's Prayer xii, [He] has sae monie takin arts, Wi' grit an' sma'. 1834 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. ii. 19 Supported by the great and the many. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 161 The masques which were exhibited at the mansions of the great. |
b. (With
the.) That which is great; great things, aspects, qualities, etc. collectively;
† also, great quantity, large amount (
obs.).
| 1557 North tr. Gueuara's Diall Pr. 107 a/2 Haue no respecte to y⊇ litel which we do offer; but to y⊇ great, which (if we were able) we would giue. 1787 Canning in Microcosm No. 30 ¶7 Uniting the great and sublime of epic grandeur with the little and the low of common life. 1791 Cowper Yardley Oak 87 Comparing still The great and little of thy lot. 1809–10 Coleridge Friend vi. (1887) 25 To exclude the great is to magnify the little. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Uses Gt. Men Wks. (Bohn) I. 274 The search after the great is the dream of youth. 1864 Lucy Aikin Mem. 157 The same misapprehension everywhere of the grand for the great. |
† c. a great: something great.
Obs.| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2366 Many smale makeþ a grete. 1592 W. Wyrley Armorie, Ld. Chandos 82 No earthly great, but wasted is with time. |
d. a great, a large part or amount.
no great, not a great deal, nothing great;
adv. not much.
U.S. colloq.| 1724 Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. XXXVI. 337 Mackey's sloop sunk at Boston, & spoild a great of our English goods. 1854 ‘O. Optic’ In Doors & Out (1876) 186 I've got consider'ble, but I don't care no great about sellin' it. 1885 A. Gray Lett. (1893) 772 No great to see, except a spick and span new Hotel. 1890 Harper's Mag. Apr. 715/1, I wa'n't no great of a boy, an' let little things wear on me. Ibid. Dec. 146/2, I hadn't been round no great in New York, an' there ain't no general store there. |
† 2. a great (see
agreat adv.),
at the great. By the piece; wholesale.
Obs.| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §134 To sell the toppes as they lye a greatte. 1646 J. Gregory Notes & Obs. Pref. (1650) 16 The way to doe this..will not be to doe the work a great, and undertake the whole or any considerable part of the Booke by one man. 1727 Boyer Fr. Dict. II. s.v., To take Work at the great, or a-great, Entreprendre un Ouvrage. |
3. by the great,
† by great.
a. Of work done: At a fixed price for the whole amount; by task; by the piece. Now
dial.| 1523 MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Paied to a carpenter by grete for mendyng of Myster Collettis house. 1573 Tusser Husb. lvii. (1878) 129 To let out thy haruest, by great or by day, let this by experience leade thee a way. By great will deceiue thee, with lingring it out, by day will dispatch, and put all out of dout. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. iv. iv. (1588) 471 If any Artificer or Labourer..taking any worke by the great. 1635 Sir E. Verney in Lady Verney Mem. V. Fam. (1892) I. 128 If you fiend him fidle about his woarke, agree with him by the great. 1667 Primatt City & C. Builder 55 Many workmen had rather agree by the Great, and find all materials, than for workman-ship only. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 505 ¶7, I..interpret by the great for any Gentlewoman who is turned of Sixty, after the rate of half a Crown per week. a 1734 North Lives (1826) III. 294 To..keep hirelings in garrets, at hard meat, to write and correct by the great. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. i. Wks. 1799 I. 162, I have contracted to physic the parish-poor by the great. 1851 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 404 [In Lincolnshire] In harvest..the cutting is done ‘by the grate’..Hay-mowing, corn-cutting, &c., are commonly executed by the ‘grate’. 1862 Mrs. Grote Collect. Papers 158 [Buckinghamshire] Piece-work or ‘by the grate’. |
† b. Of buying and selling: In large quantities, in gross, wholesale.
Obs.| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (Shaks. Soc) 48 A merchant..that sells commodities of good cheere by the great. 1623 Cockeram, Staple, any Towne..appointed for Merchants..to carrie their..commodities vnto, for the better sale of them to other Merchants by the great. 1634 Peacham Gent. Exerc. i. x. 38 A friend of mine was notably cozened in a bargaine of timber hee bought by the great, in a mistie morning. a 1640 Day Parl. Bees (1881) 73 You..Bought wax and honey up by th' great. |
† c. transf. and
fig. In large quantities or numbers; in the mass; ‘by wholesale’.
Obs.| 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 925 Not..to carry away their dead bodies by great altogether, but every city one after another. 1607 Middleton Michaelm. Term iv. ii, Do they not thrive when they utter most, and make it away by the great. a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour i. i, Bastinadoes by the great. 1670 Dryden 1st Part Conq. Granada ii. i. Wks. 1883 IV. 50 Death did at length so many slain forget, And lost the tale, and took them by the great. 1755 Carte Hist. Eng. IV. 237 They are apt to swallow every thing by the great which they see in print. |
† 4. in great. [
Cf. F.
en grand,
en gros, G.
im groszen,
Du. in 't groot.]
Obs. a. In the mass, in the bulk; in or for the whole amount, piece, etc.; in the gross, wholesale; by the piece;
= by the great (see 3). (Also
occas. in the great,
in greats.)
| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. liv. (1869) 32 Thinketh not..þat it sufficeth to biholde and thinke þe sinnes in gret. 1472 Osbern in Paston Lett. No. 710 III. 71 Selle non in gret, but make fagottes and astell. 1480 Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 126 For binding and dressing of thre smalle bookes..price in grete vjs. viijd. 1486 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 17 By couenaunte with him made in great. 1486 Nottingham Rec. III. 246 For dykyng..to a man hired in grete xxd. c 1530 Tindale Matt. v–vii. 52 b, The publycans bought in greate y⊇ emperours tribute. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 833/2 The labourers would in no wise labour by the daie, but all by taske & in great. 1598 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1848) II. 168 That na inhabitant..gadder the same [victuall] in gryt, and keip the same to ane darth. 1631 in Burgh Laws Dundee (1872) 5 July, For selling of salt in greats. 1659 Willsford Scales Comm., Archit. 3 When bricks are deare, and lime is cheap, the workman by the Great will use more morter. 1670–98 R. Lassels Voy. Italy I. 103 Before I come to the particulars of what I saw in Florence, I will consider it in great, and then come to the retail of it. 1790 Bentham Wks. (1838–43) X. 233 Accustomed to view things in the great, this virtue, if it be one, costs me no less, perhaps, than most people. 1792 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 16 For want of ever dealing in the great, they do not know, that, though multitudes may be deluded, they never can be bribed. |
b. all in great: ‘all told’, in all.
| 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1038/2 In that part also the man bringeth in two places all in great, whych he hathe pyked out..among al my bookes. |
c. In large letters.
| a 1641 Suckling Sessions of Poets xxviii. in Fragm. Aurea (1646) 11 Not a man in the place But had discontent writ in great [ed. 1648 at large] in his face. |
d. On a large scale: usually said by comparison with something smaller but of the same proportions. (Also
occas. in the great.)
| 1652 H. Cogan tr. Scudery's Ibrahim ii. iii. 49 Having demanded of this pretended Painter, whether he could work in great, as well as in little. 1672 Dryden Marr. à la Mode Ded. 1 Being that in little, which your lordship is in great. c 1705 Soul of World in Somers Tracts II. 234 The World itself is, after a Sort, an Animal in great. 1769 J. Watt in Q. Rev. (1858) CIV. 433 The necessary experience in great was wanting. 1795 Bentham Wks. (1838–43) X. 307 The Duke..gave him orders for making some [baggage-wagons] in the great [from a small model]. |
† 5. of great. In the bulk; in its entirety.
Obs. 6. attrib.:
great work dial., work done by the piece, ‘piece-work’. (See 3 a, 4 a.)
| 1855 Cycl. Agric. (ed. Morton) II. 723 Gret (Beds., Worc.), gret-work, or great-work, is piece-work. 1889 A. T. Pask Eyes Thames 148 They can earn 18s. a week, doing piece⁓work, or, in market-garden parlance, ‘great-work’. |
II. As
n. 7. A great, eminent, or distinguished person.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7018 Serdill..Slogh a grete of þe grekes. Ibid. 11735 While this gode was in gederyng the grettes among. 1635 Hakewill Apol. 538 So have wee had three Greats, not in name only but in deed, such as were Constantine the great..and Charles the great. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 40/2 Till thou the greatest be among the greats. 1912 E. Pound in Poetry I. i. 7 You also, our first great, Had tried all ways. 1947 R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz xvi. 176 The passing of another one-time great. 1959 Encounter Aug. 32/1 Their admiration for coloured greats like Tusdie and Maria really meant something to them. 1963 J. Walsh Shroud (1964) viii. 73 Statues and paintings of the greats of French science and literature. 1965 Listener 17 June 894/1 Tilden was an all-time great with no technical weakness anywhere. 1970 Times 13 July 3/1 El Vino has been the haunt of Fleet Street's greats and not-so-greats for nearly a century. |
† 8. The chief part; the main point; the sum and substance; the general drift or gist (of a story).
Obs.| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1242 (Fairf. MS.), I kan not now wel counterfete Hyr wordys, but this was the grete Of hir answere. c 1374 ― Troylus v. 1036 He refte here of þe grete of al here peyne. c 1381 ― Parl. Foules 35 Of his centence I wole ȝow seyn the greete. c 1385 ― L.G.W. Prol. 574 That thou reherce of al hir lyfe the grete. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas ix. xxxiv. (1554) 214 Of your complaynt say to me the grete. c 1450 Merlin 315 The grete of this mater longeth vn-to hym. |
† 9. a. Thickness.
b. Greatness, magnitude.
Obs. rare.
| [c 950 Epist. Alex. in Anglia IV. 147 Unᵹemetlicre gryto and micelnysse, L. vincens grossitudine.] a 1300 Cursor M. 8244 (Gött.) Þat was þe stauin for to strenthe, And knaw þe wax of gret and lenthe. 1629 Chapman Juvenal v. 213 Before him see a huge Goose-liuer set; A Capon cramb'd, euen with that Goose for great [L. anseribus par altilis]. |
10. greats (
Oxford Univ. colloq.). The final examination for the degree of B.A.; now applied
esp. to the examination for Honours in Literæ Humaniores. The earlier name was
great go. (
Cf. smalls.)
| 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green ii. xi, The little gentleman was going in for his Degree, alias Great-go, alias Greats. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. x. 163 In our second term we..begin to feel ourselves at home, while both ‘smalls’ and ‘greats’ are sufficiently distant to be altogether ignored if we are that way inclined. 1884 G. Allen Strange Stories 175 Since I have begun reading philosophy for my Greats. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 12 June 1/3 There are..more entries for Modern History than for Classical Greats. |
Sense B. 6 in
Dict. becomes B. 7. Add:
[B.] 6. In a satisfactory or successful manner; excellently or well. Freq. with
do and
go.
colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.).
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §261/6 Successfully, big, great, swimmingly, with kites flying. 1976 Business Week 22 Nov. 64/2 ‘Our debt will come down fast,’ predicts Wood. ‘Everything else we have is going great.’ 1991 Dorris & Erdrich Crown of Columbus v. 92 You're doing great, almost in transition... Listen to me. Vivian. Short births can be hard. |
[C.] [1.] [a.] the great and the good: (the body of) distinguished and worthy people. Often used
ironically.
| 1854 G. Bancroft Hist. Amer. Revol. III. xxvii. 552 Franklin when he died, had nations for his mourners, and the great and the good throughout the world as his eulogists. 1964 S. Brittan Treasury under Tories ii. 58 The book of the ‘Great and the Good’..is the list of worthy, public-spirited citizens from whom members of Royal Commissions and other government Committees are chosen. 1990 J. Paxman Friends in High Places iv. 99 When she returned from one of the innumerable [committee] meetings and one of her daughters asked who had been present, her usual reply would be, ‘Oh, the Great and the Good. And me.’ |
▸
Great Pyramid n. the largest of the pyramids at Giza, which forms the tomb of the fourth-dynasty pharaoh Cheops (in later use sometimes with reference to its supposed mystical powers;
cf. Great Pyramid prophecy n. at Additions).
| 1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. i. vii. 18 The height of the *great Pyramid..is by its perpendicular..499 feet, by its inclining ascent, 693 feet. 1759 Johnson Prince of Abissinia II. xxx. 39 When they came to the great pyramid they were astonished at the extent of the base. 1859 J. Taylor Great Pyramid p. vi, I have confined my observations to the Great Pyramid alone. 1883 Eclectic Mag. Jan. 25/2 The prophecies symbolically indicated in the Great Pyramid. 1976 Listener 19 Feb. 199/1 Books on ESP, UFOs, the mystic powers of the Great Pyramid..are..strong runners in the publishing stakes. 2003 Focus July (Kings of Egypt fold-out suppl.) When complete, The Great Pyramid was approximately 146.5m high. |
▸
Great Pyramid prophecy n. now
rare a prophecy based on a belief in the occult significance of the internal dimensions of the Great Pyramid; (also as a mass noun) these prophecies considered collectively, forming a prediction of significant world events; pyramidology.
| 1883 Eclectic Mag. Jan. 26/1 All true believers in the *Great Pyramid prophecies. 1938 Times 7 Oct. 10/6 The modern interpretations of Biblical prophecy and Great Pyramid prophecy. 1960 M. Bouisson Magic 288 The case of the Great Pyramid prophecy for the date of 20 August 1953 seems to us..inexplicable. 1999 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 29 Dec. 12 The great pyramid prophecy says the Earth's magnetic poles will become unstable and the polar shift will knock the earth upside-down in a few days. |
▸
Great Roll n. (also with lower-case initials)
Brit. (now
hist.) (the name of) a roll (
roll n.1 2) recording accounts of royal revenue as collected in every county;
= pipe roll
n.| 1397 Rolls of Parl. III. 378/2 Thomas, Duk of Gloucestre..hathe iknowe and confessyd tofore the same William alle the matiere and poyntz iwrete in this *grete roule annexid to this sedule, the weche sedule and grete roule beth asselid undir the sele of the forseyd William. 1622 T. Powell Direct. for Search of Rec. 40 All Debts due to the King, are in the said Great Roll contayned. 1711 T. Madox Hist. & Antiq. Exchequer 7 Magnus Rotulus, The Great Roll of the Exchequer commonly called the Pipe Roll. 1834 Act 4 & 5 Will. IV c. 16 §1 The Office of Recorder of the Great Roll or Clerk of the Pipe in the Exchequer in Scotland shall cease and determine. 1980 Amer. Jrnl. Legal Hist. 24 363 After the English defeat at Bannockburn another notary..was employed by the English government to draw up new great rolls concerning the king's ‘rightful dominion over the realm of Scotland’. |
▪ II. † great, v. Obs. Forms: 1
gréatian, 3
greaten, (
pa. pple. igret), 3–5
grete, 6
great.
[OE. gréatian (= OHG. grôzên, mod.Ger. dial. groszen), f. gréat great a.] 1. intr. To become great, thick, or large; to increase;
occas. with reference to pregnancy.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xi. 68 Hwæt on ðæs siweniᵹᵹean eaᵹum beoð ða æplas hale, ac ða bræwas greatiað [Hatton MS. greatiᵹað; L. grossescunt]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 128 Swin ipund ine sti uorte uetten, & forte greaten aᵹein þe cul of þer eax. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1556 His [Nero's] wombe bigan to greti. a 1300 Cursor M. 4700 Sua bigan þe derth to grete. 13.. K. Alis. 452 The lady greted with yonge bon. a 1330 Syr Degarre 155 Here wombe greted more and more. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. vii. 20 That the corn may grete [L. grandescere]..They sayn, is good to lete (hit) ly vnbounde. Ibid. 25 Yf hit [wheat] be ripe, is forto se If al the lond attonys rody grete [L. si æqualiter spicarum populus maturato rubore flavescat]. |
2. trans. To make great; to increase; to magnify, aggrandize.
| a 1225 Juliana 11 An godd þat is igret wið euches cunnes gode. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 241 The plauntis bigge a depper delf desireth And larger space, as wynd may hem to shake: That gretith hem [L. ut..a ventis frequentibus agitata grandescat]. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 649 This false Politick, Plotting to Great himself, our deaths doth seek. |