large
See also: larĝe and Large
English
Etymology
From Middle English large, from Old French large, from Latin larga, feminine of largus (“abundant, plentiful, copious, large, much”), of uncertain ultimate origin; see there for more. Mostly displaced Middle English stoor, stour (“large, great”) (from Old English stōr) and muchel (“large, great”) (from Old English myċel).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /lɑːd͡ʒ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /lɑɹd͡ʒ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)dʒ
Adjective
large (comparative larger, superlative largest)
- Of considerable or relatively great size or extent.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
- We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
- Russia is a large country. The fruit-fly has large eyes for its body size. He has a large collection of stamps.
-
- (especially clothing, food or drink) That is large (the manufactured size).
- (obsolete) Abundant; ample.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- We have yet large day.
-
- (archaic) Full in statement; diffuse; profuse.
- 1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics
- I might be very large upon the importance and advantages of education.
- 1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics
- (obsolete) Free; unencumbered.
- 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, OCLC 940138160:
- Of burdens all he set the Paynims large.
-
- (obsolete) Unrestrained by decorum; said of language.
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iii]:
- Some large jests he will make.
-
- (nautical) Crossing the line of a ship's course in a favorable direction; said of the wind when it is abeam, or between the beam and the quarter.
Synonyms
- The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates
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- big, huge, giant, gigantic, enormous, stour, great, mickle, largeish
- See also Thesaurus:large
Antonyms
- small, tiny, minuscule
Derived terms
- as large as life, larger than life
- by and large
- enlarge
- give it large
- have it large
- large and in charge
- large charge
- large it, large it up
- largely
- largen
- largeness
- largesome
- largish
- writ large
Translations
of greater size — See also translations at big
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Noun
large (countable and uncountable, plural larges)
- (music, obsolete) An old musical note, equal to two longas, four breves, or eight semibreves.
- (obsolete) Liberality, generosity.
- (slang, plural: large) A thousand dollars/pounds.
- Getting a car tricked out like that will cost you 50 large.
- 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
- "We'll call you anything we want," Dave said. "You owe us eighty-five large, Ace, and what we've got for collateral on that money so far is a shitload of Arm & Hammer baking soda worth about a buck-fifty. We'll call you Hubert J. Motherfucker if we want to."
- 2008 January 13, David Simon, “Unconfirmed Reports”, in The Wire, season 2, episode 2, spoken by Avon Barksdale, 30:16 from the start:
- So send my sister a hundred large, and next time you come down to Jessup it won't be my grill talking at you. My word on that.
- (uncountable, especially clothing, food or drink) One of several common sizes to which an item may be manufactured.
- Synonym: L
- (countable, especially clothing, food or drink) An item labelled or denoted as being that size.
- One small coffee and two larges, please.
- (countable, especially with respect to clothing) One who fits an item of that size.
Derived terms
- at large
Adverb
large
- (nautical) Before the wind.
Further reading
- large in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- large in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- Agler, Alger, Elgar, Ragle, ergal, glare, lager, regal
French
Etymology
From Old French large, from Latin largus, larga, largum (“abundant, plentiful, copious, large, much”). The feminine is inherited, but for the masculine, Latin largum (the masculine and neuter accusative) developed into Old French larc, which was discarded.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /laʁʒ/
- (Paris)
(file) - Homophone: larges
- Hyphenation: large
Adjective
large (plural larges)
- wide, broad
- large
- generous
Derived terms
- de long en large
- en long en large
- large d'esprit
- ratisser large
Related terms
- largesse
Noun
large m (plural larges)
- open sea
- Synonym: haute mer
- width
- Synonym: largeur
Derived terms
- au large
- au large de
- prendre le large
Descendants
- Antillean Creole: laj
- Haitian Creole: laj
- Karipúna Creole French: laj
- Louisiana Creole French: laj, larj
Further reading
- “large”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- Alger, grêla, régal, régla
Latin
Adverb
largē (comparative largius, superlative largissimē)
- munificently, generously, liberally.
- abundantly, copiously.
- to a great extent.
Adjective
large
- vocative masculine singular of largus
References
- “large”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “large”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
Norman
Etymology
From Old French large, from Latin largus (“abundant, plentiful, copious, large, much”).
Adjective
large m or f
- (Jersey) wide
Derived terms
- large d'bord, large d'run (“broad in the beam”)
- largement (“widely”)
Noun
large m (plural larges)
- (Jersey, nautical) open sea, deep sea
- Synonym: plieine mé
Old French
Alternative forms
- larc (Roman de Renard, "wide")
Etymology
From Latin largus, larga.
Adjective
large m (oblique and nominative feminine singular large)
- generous
- large; big
- wide (when used to differentiate between height, width and length)
Descendants
- Middle French: large
- French: large
- Antillean Creole: laj
- Haitian Creole: laj
- Karipúna Creole French: laj
- Louisiana Creole French: laj, larj
- French: large
- Norman: large (Guernsey, Jersey)
- → Middle English: large
- English: large
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (large, supplement)
- large on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub