big

Signification

Adj

1. Of great size, large.
2. (informal) Of great size, large.
3. Large with young; pregnant; swelling; ready to give birth or produce.
4. (informal) Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large.
5. (informal) Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large.
6. (informal) Well-endowed; with a desired body part notably large.
7. (informal) Adult; (of a child) older.
8. (informal,slang) Adult; (of a child) older.
9. (informal) Mature, conscientious, principled; generous.
10. (informal) Important or significant.
11. Popular.
12. Populous.
13. (informal) Used as an intensifier, especially of negative-valence nouns
14. Operating on a large scale, especially if therefore having undue or sinister influence.
15. (informal) Enthusiastic (about).

Adv

1. In a loud manner.
2. In a boasting manner.
3. In a large amount or to a large extent.
4. (informal) In a large amount or to a large extent.
5. On a large scale, expansively.
6. (colloquial) Hard; with great force.

Noun

1. An important or powerful person; a celebrity; a big name.
2. The big leagues, big time.
3. An initiated member of a sorority or fraternity who acts as a mentor to a new member (the little).
4. The participant in ageplay who acts out the older role.

Verb

1. To inhabit; occupy.
2. To locate oneself.
3. To build; erect; fashion.
4. To dwell; have a dwelling.

Noun

One or more kinds of barley, especially six-rowed barley.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/bɪɡ/

Étymologie

Inherited from Northern Middle English big, bigge (“powerful, strong”), possibly from a dialect of Old Norse. Ultimately perhaps a derivative of Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”), in which case big would be related to bogey, bugbear, and bug.
Compare dialectal Norwegian bugge (“great man”), Low German Bögge, Boggelmann.

Phrases

How big do elephants get ?

Quelle est la taille des éléphants?