greatnes

English

Noun

greatnes (countable and uncountable, plural greatneses)

1. Obsolete form of greatness.
   • 1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “Agis and Cleomenes”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, […], London: […] Richard Field, →OCLC, page 851:

     But in deede, the ſecret cauſe that brought Ageſilaus to conſent vnto this practiſe, was the greatnes of his dette which he ought, of the which he hoped to be diſcharged by chaunging of the ſtate and common wealth.

Old English

Alternative forms

• grēatnys

Etymology

From grēat +‎ -nes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡræ͜ɑːt.nes/

Noun

grēatnes f (nominative plural grēatnessa)

1. greatness, bigness, thickness, coarseness of a material

Declension

Strong ō-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	grēatnes	grēatnessa, grēatnesse
accusative	grēatnesse	grēatnessa, grēatnesse
genitive	grēatnesse	grēatnessa
dative	grēatnesse	grēatnessum

Descendants

• Middle English: gretnesse, greetnesse, gretnes
  • English: greatness
  • Scots: gretnes, gretenes, greitnes

References

• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “greátnes”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.