big

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   in a boastful manner

   You talked big all evening.

2. 2
   adv

   in a major way

   the play failed big at the box office

3. 3
   adv

   on a grand scale

   think big

4. 4
   adv

   extremely well

   Their performance went over big.

5. 5
   adj

   conspicuous in position or importance

   a big figure in the movement

6. 6
   adj

   given or giving freely

   was a big tipper

7. 7
   adj

   generous and understanding and tolerant

   a heart big enough to hold no grudges

8. 8
   adj

   marked by intense physical force

   a big wind

Etymology

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.