great (English)

Where does "great" come from?

The English word 'great' descends from Middle English 'greet', which came from Old English 'grēat' meaning 'big, thick, coarse, massive'[1]. These forms trace back through Proto-West Germanic to Proto-Germanic '*grautaz' meaning 'big in size, coarse, coarse grained'[1]. This Germanic term ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root '*gʰrewd-' or '*gʰer-', meaning 'to rub, grind, remove'[1].

Open questions

The reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European root and its exact derivation remain based on comparative historical linguistic analysis. [1] [3] [4]

Full etymology tree

great (English), 'Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).'
- inherited greet (Middle English), 'alternative form of grete'
  - inherited great (Old English), 'great, massive'
    - inherited *graut (Proto-West Germanic)
      - inherited *grautaz (Proto-Germanic), 'coarse, crude'
        inherited *gʰrowd-o-s (pre-Germanic)
        inherited *gʰrewd- (Proto-Indo-European)
        inherited *gʰer- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to yearn for'

Ancestors

*gʰer- (Proto-Indo-European)
greet (Middle English)
great (Old English)
*grautaz (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

groot (Dutch)
gross (English)
gross (German)
grouss (Luxembourgish)
grat (North Frisian)
greot (Old English)
groot (Saterland Frisian)
graat (Scots)
grut (West Frisian)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris