Wordwyrt

greatness

/ˈɡɹeɪtnəs/GRAYT-nuhs
/ˈɡɹeɪtnəs/GRAYT-nuhs

Meaningthe state of being great

Common meaning: importance or excellence

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishgreatsource
  2. Middle Englishgretsource
  3. Englishgreat‘very large or important’
  4. Englishformed in English from greatgreatness‘importance or excellence’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from great + -ness.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), GREAT, p.243 · scan

Source words

  • great Old English · source word “big, thick, coarse”

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