# great

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɡɹeɪt/ · frequency rank #138

## Definitions
1. Taking much space; large.
2. Taking much space; large.
3. Taking much space; large.
4. Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic.
5. Important, consequential.
6. Involving more generations than the qualified word implies — as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s).
7. Pregnant; large with young; full of.
8. Intimate; familiar.
9. Arising from or possessing idealism; admirable; commanding; illustrious; eminent.
10. Impressive or striking.
11. Much in use; favoured.
12. Of much talent or achievements.
13. Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale; active or enthusiastic.

## Etymology
From Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English grēat (“big, thick, coarse, massive”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd-, *gʰer- (“to rub, grind, remove”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots graat, great, greet (“great”), Yola graat (“great”), North Frisian grat, groot, grot, grut, gurt (“big, great, large”), Saterland Frisian groot (“big, large”), West Frisian grut (“big, great, large”), Alemannic German groß, gruuss (“very large”), Central Franconian jruß (“big, great, large”), Cimbrian gròas, groaz (“big, great, large”), Dutch and German Low German groot (“big, great, large”), German gross, groß (“big, large”), Luxembourgish grouss (“big, great, large”), Mòcheno groas (“big, great, large”), Vilamovian grus, grūs (“big, great, large”), Yiddish גרויס (groys, “big, large”); also Latin grandis (“big, great, large”). Related to grit. Doublet of gross.
The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as beat and heat.

## Easily confused with
- **grt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grt)
- **grew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grew)
- **grey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grey)
- **Greg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-greg)
- **grit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grit)
- **green** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-green)
- **guest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-guest)
- **Greek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-greek)
- **greed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-greed)
- **greet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-greet)
- **Gregg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-gregg)
- **Greta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-greta)
- **grunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grunt)
- **groan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-groan)
- **Groot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-groot)
- **Gwent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-gwent)
- **greys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-greys)
- **grout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grout)
- **grist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-grist)
- **greats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/great-vs-greats)

## Common misspellings (6)
`gerat`, `ggreat`, `graet`, `greatt`, `grreat`, `rgeat`

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