great
Forms
- Comparative
- greater
- Superlative
- greatest
- Plural
- greats
Definitions
1.Taking much space; large.
- 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.
- “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?”
2.Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.(informal)
- This is a great place to start.
- It means a great deal.
3.Important, consequential.
- I’ll cover fiscal theory and the recent inflation (again!) of course, but also more recent thoughts on the great puzzle of monetary economics, how central banks can lower inflation by raising nominal interest rates.
4.Involving more generations than the qualified word implies, as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s).
- This is a great place to start.
- It means a great deal.
1.Expression of gladness and content about something.
- Great! Thanks for the wonderful work.
2.A 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.
1.A person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim.
- Newton and Einstein are two of the greats of the history of science.
2.The main division in a pipe organ, usually the loudest division.
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #138
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Very common
- Academic
- Uncommon
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
Word family
Etymology
From Middle English greet, grete (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, massive; tall; thick; coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“coarse, crude; big, large”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub; to stroke; to grind; to remove”).