Where does “gross” come from?
Gross comes from Middle English gross, from Old French gros, from Latin grossus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷres- and ghrewə-.
gross (English): Highly or conspicuously offensive; Excluding any...
Definitions
- Highly or conspicuously offensive; Excluding any...
Ancestry of “gross”, step by step
gross traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via German groß
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | groß | big, large, large-scale; great, grand; tall |
| 2 | English | daddy | Father; A male lover; An informal term of address... |
| 3 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 4 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 5 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |
via Hebrew גדול
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hebrew | גדול | big, large; great, important |
via Medieval Latin grossus
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medieval Latin | grossus | — |