greatness

Etymology

From Middle English gretnesse, gretnes, greetnesse, from Old English grēatnes. Equivalent to great +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

enPR: grātʹnəs, IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹeɪtnəs/
Hyphenation: great‧ness
Audio (US): (file)

Noun

greatness (countable and uncountable, plural greatnesses)

The state, condition, or quality of being great
Due to the greatness of his size, he was an effective bodyguard.

greatness of mind
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
  Mal. Some are borne great... Some atcheeue greatnesse... And some haue greatnesse thrust vpon them.
- 1964, Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 147:
  Until then I had felt that what a great writer I was had been carefully kept secret between myself and my wife and only those people we knew well enough to speak to. I was glad Scott had come to the same happy conclusion as to this possible greatness, but I was also glad he was beginning to run out of his speech.
- 2012 June 29, Kevin Mitchell, “Roger Federer Back from Wimbledon 2012 Brink to Beat Julien Benneteau”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 15 November 2016:
  He showed his greatness when it mattered, but his occasional weakness too.
(obsolete): Pride; haughtiness.
- 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
  It is not of pride or greatness that he cometh not aboard your ships.

Derived terms

overgreatness

Translations

The state, condition, or quality of being great; as, greatness of size, greatness of mind, power, etc

Aghwan: 𐔱𐕈𐔿𐔼𐕒𐕡𐕎 (bån'iun)
Arabic: عَظَمَة f (ʕaẓama)
Egyptian Arabic: عظمة f (ʕaẓama)
Armenian: մեծություն (hy) (mecutʻyun)
Azerbaijani: böyüklük, əzəmət (az)
Belarusian: ве́ліч f (vjélič), вялі́касць f (vjalíkascʹ)
Bulgarian: вели́чие (bg) n (velíčie)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 偉大 / 伟大 (zh) (wěidà)
Crimean Tatar: ululıq
Czech: velikost (cs) f
Danish: storhed c
Dutch: grootheid (nl) f, grootte (nl) f
Finnish: suuruus (fi)
French: grandeur (fr) f
Georgian: სიდიადე (sidiade)
German: Größe (de) f
Gothic: 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌿𐌸𐍃 f (mikildūþs)
Greek: μεγαλείο (el) n (megaleío)
Ancient: μέγεθος n (mégethos)
Hindi: महानता (hi) f (mahāntā), महिमा (hi) f (mahimā), बड़प्पन (hi) m (baṛappan)
Hungarian: nagyság (hu)
Italian: grandezza (it) f
Kazakh: ұлылық (ūlylyq)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گەورەیی (gewreyî)
Latin: magnitudo f
Macedonian: вели́чие n (velíčie), вели́чавост f (velíčavost), вели́чина (velíčina)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: storhet (no) m or f
Ottoman Turkish: بیوكلك (büyüklük), كبر (kiber)
Persian: عظمت (fa) ('azamat)
Polish: wielkość (pl) f
Portuguese: grandeza (pt) f
Romanian: măreție (ro) f, grandoare (ro) f, mărire (ro) f, mărime (ro) f
Russian: вели́чие (ru) n (velíčije)
Sanskrit: महस् (sa) n (mahas)
Scottish Gaelic: meudachd f
Slovak: veľkosť f
Spanish: grandeza (es) f
Swedish: storhet (sv) c
Tajik: азамат (azamat)
Telugu: గొప్పతనం (te) (goppatanaṁ)
Ukrainian: ве́лич (uk) f (vélyč), вели́ччя n (velýččja), вели́чність f (velýčnistʹ), вели́кість f (velýkistʹ)

pride — see pride

haughtiness — see haughtiness

References

“greatness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

Tressange, estranges, seargents, sergeants

English