Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “great” come from?

Great comes from Old English grēat, from Proto-Germanic grautaz, from Proto-Indo-European ghrewə-, meaning to grow or increase.

great (English): Relatively large in scale, size, extent, number ...

Definitions

  1. Relatively large in scale, size, extent, number ...

Ancestry of “great”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishgreetgreat
2Old Englishgrēatgreat, large; big, thick, coarse, massive
3Proto-West Germanicgraut—
4Proto-Germanicgrautazcoarse, crude; big, large
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰer-to yearn for; to enclose; bowels, intestines

Words derived from “great”

  • greatcoat
  • greatsword
  • overgreat
  • greatcoated
  • ungreat
  • nongreat
  • greatsome
  • Great Wen
  • great grandmaster
  • great rhombicuboctahedron
  • great-hearted
  • grêt
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰer- →