Great (?), a.
[Compar. Greater (?);
superl. Greatest.] [OE. gret, great,
AS. greÁt; akin to OS. & LG. grōt, D.
groot, OHG. grōz, G. gross. Cf.
Groat the coin.] 1. Large in space; of
much size; big; immense; enormous; expanded; -- opposed to
small and little; as, a great house, ship, farm,
plain, distance, length.
2. Large in number; numerous; as, a
great company, multitude, series, etc.
3. Long continued; lengthened in duration;
prolonged in time; as, a great while; a great
interval.
4. Superior; admirable; commanding; --
applied to thoughts, actions, and feelings.
5. Endowed with extraordinary powers;
uncommonly gifted; able to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful;
mighty; noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher,
etc.
6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty:
eminent; distinguished; foremost; principal; as, great men;
the great seal; the great marshal, etc.
He doth object I am too great of
birth.
Shak.
7. Entitled to earnest consideration;
weighty; important; as, a great argument, truth, or
principle.
8. Pregnant; big (with young).
The ewes great with young.
Ps.
lxxviii. 71.
9. More than ordinary in degree; very
considerable in degree; as, to use great caution; to be in
great pain.
We have all
Great cause to give great thanks.
Shak.
10. (Genealogy) Older, younger, or
more remote, by single generation; -- often used before grand to
indicate one degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as,
great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's father), great-
grandson, etc.
Great bear (Astron.), the
constellation Ursa Major. -- Great cattle
(Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and
yearlings. Wharton. -- Great charter
(Eng. Hist.), Magna Charta. -- Great circle
of a sphere, a circle the plane of which passes through
the center of the sphere. -- Great circle
sailing, the process or art of conducting a ship on a
great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc between two
places. -- Great go, the final examination
for a degree at the University of Oxford, England; -- called also
greats. T. Hughes. -- Great
guns. (Naut.) See under Gun. -- The
Great Lakes the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on the
northern borders of the United States. -- Great
master. Same as Grand master, under
Grand. -- Great organ (Mus.),
the largest and loudest of the three parts of a grand organ (the
others being the choir organ and the swell, and
sometimes the pedal organ or foot keys), It is played upon by
a separate keyboard, which has the middle position. --
The great powers (of Europe), in modern
diplomacy, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and
Italy. -- Great primer. See under
Type. -- Great scale (Mus.),
the complete scale; -- employed to designate the entire series of
musical sounds from lowest to highest. -- Great
sea, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black
and the Mediterranean seas are so called. -- Great
seal. (a) The principal seal of a
kingdom or state. (b) In Great Britain, the
lord chancellor (who is custodian of this seal); also, his
office. -- Great tithes. See under
Tithes. -- The great, the eminent,
distinguished, or powerful. -- The Great
Spirit, among the North American Indians, their chief
or principal deity. -- To be great (with
one), to be intimate or familiar (with him).
Bacon.