# big

> English word · Adjective · IPA /bɪɡ/ · frequency rank #200

## Definitions
1. Of great size, large.
2. Of great size, large.
3. Large with young; pregnant; swelling; ready to give birth or produce.
4. Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large.
5. Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large.
6. Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large.
7. Adult; (of a child) older.
8. Adult; (of a child) older.
9. Mature, conscientious, principled; generous.
10. Important or significant.
11. Popular.
12. Populous.
13. Used as an intensifier, especially of negative-valence nouns
14. Operating on a large scale, especially if therefore having undue or sinister influence.
15. Enthusiastic (about).

## Etymology
Inherited from Northern Middle English big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Ultimately perhaps a derivative of Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”), in which case big would be related to bogey, bugbear, and bug.
Compare dialectal Norwegian bugge (“great man”), Low German Bögge, Boggelmann.

## Easily confused with
- **by** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-by)
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bs)
- **bo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bo)
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-br)
- **Bt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bt)
- **BP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bp)
- **BL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bl)
- **BM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bm)
- **bn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bn)
- **BJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bj)
- **BW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bw)
- **BX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bx)
- **but** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-but)
- **bit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bit)
- **buy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-buy)
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-boy)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-box)
- **bus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bus)
- **bob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bob)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/big-vs-bro)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/big