Etymograph

English

great

Great comes from Middle English greet ‘great, large’, from Old English grēat ‘big, massive’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- ‘to rub’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrewd-1‘to rub’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grautaz1‘coarse’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*graut1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150grēat1‘big’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500greet1‘great’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611great1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English great
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “So the King made Daniel a great man […]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰrewd-Wiktionary, English great‘to rub’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grautazWiktionary, English great‘coarse’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*grautWiktionary, English greatreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150grēatWiktionary, English great‘big’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500greetWiktionary, English great‘great’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611greatWiktionary, English great. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “So the King made Daniel a great man […]”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- ‘to rub’

grit, 5 more

through Proto-West Germanic *graut

groat, 5 more

through Old English grēat ‘big, massive’

greet, gert, 4 more

Today it means

adj Taking much space; large.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “great”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- / great

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