English
large
Large comes from Middle English large, from Old French large ‘generous’, from Latin larga, feminine of largus ‘abundant, plentiful’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElargus1‘abundant, plentiful, copious, large’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElarga1feminine of largus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400large1‘generous’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500large1
- Englishearliest quotation 1485large1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English large
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XX: “And where hit please yow to saye that I…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElargusWiktionary, English large‘abundant, plentiful, copious, large’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElargaWiktionary, English largefeminine of largus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400largeWiktionary, English large‘generous’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500largeWiktionary, English large
- Englishearliest quotation 1485largeWiktionary, English large. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XX: “And where hit please yow to saye that I…”
The story
From Middle English large, from Old French large, from Latin larga, feminine of largus (‘abundant, plentiful, copious, large, much’), of uncertain ultimate origin; see there for more.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Along with big, it mostly displaced Middle English stoor and muchel (the latter surviving in much under a different meaning).
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Today it means
adj Of considerable or relatively great size or extent.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “large”. 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 / Latin largus / large