greatnessn.
/ˈɡreɪtnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈɡreɪtnᵻs/ 1.
a. Thickness, width; stoutness; swollenness. Also: †coarseness (obsolete). Now rare.In later use probably simply a contextual use of sense 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > thickness > [noun] > great thickness
thicknessc1000
greatnessOE
greatc1175
crassitudec1420
crassity1656
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 374 Ælces mannes miht þe on modignysse færð is soðlice þam gelic swilce man siwige ane bytte, and blawe hi fulle windes, and wyrce siððan an þyrl þonne heo toþunden bið on hire greatnysse þonne togæð seo miht.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) cxlvii. 190 Ðeos wyrt..hafað elne langne stelan on fincres greatn [ys] se [L. in crassitudine digiti].
OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) lv. 92 De quarum rerum omnino de colore aut grossitudine non causentur : þara þinga eallra be bleo ne oððe gretnysse na cidan.
c1300 St. Brendan (Harl.) 176 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 224 Iastoni..fondeþ niȝt & dai To pulte his tail in his mouþ, ac for gretnisse he nemai.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. viii. x. 468 [Cancer] makeþ gretnes [L. grossitiem] in þe body.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 200 If a mannes lyme is gretter þan it schulde be..If it so be þat þis greetnes come of malancolious blood or of greet fleume, make him a purgacioun.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 552 Hir nekke was of good fasoun In lengthe and gretnesse by resoun.
c1450 Treat. Fishing in J. McDonald et al. Origins of Angling (1963) 157 (MED) Yowr floyt, ffor on heyr, be no bygger a pese; for ij herys, as a beyn; for xij heres, as a walnot, and so forthe, euery lyne aftur hys gretnes.
a1500 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Rawl.) (1896) 89 Kynge henry..was..gret of wombe..and forto aquenche that gretnes, he put hym-selfe to ful mych trauayl, that vnneth he lette his body haue enny reste.
a1500 Walter of Henley's Husbandry (Sloane) (1890) 55 (MED) Yeff your haye be meled withe strawe þey shall chewe it þe better by cawse off þe gretenys off þe strawe.
1536 in Gentleman's Mag. (1813) May 427 Euery Essex byllet conteyn in lenght iij footte, wt the carfe; in gretnes in mydes xv ynches.
1616 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1878) III. 32 The heicht and gritnes of the bilge of the saidis barrells.
1685 N. Crouch Eng. Empire in Amer. x. 150 They met with a Rattlesnake,..which by the greatness of her Belly they judged to be full with young, but having killed and opened her, found there a small Squirrel whole.
1686 F. Philipps Investigatio Jurium Antiquorum ii. 143 The Length and Greatness of Hercules's Foot, declared the vast Proportion and Magnitude of the residue of his Body.
1692 A. Symson Large Descr. Galloway (1823) 97 They twine twentie, or thirtie threeds together, according to the greatness of the cords they design to make.
1791 Ann. Agric. 16 323 The length and greatness of the grass arising from the couch, create such a moisture, as makes it unavoidably necessary to undergo that tedious piece of business [sc. kiln-drying].
1826 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes Scotl. 185 A hideous monster in the form of a worm..somewhat bigger than an ordinary man's leg, with a head more proportionable to its length than greatness.
1867 W. Lilljeborg On Two Subfossil Whales 81 The 4th pair of ribs..is distinguished by considerable length and greatness.
1948 Jrnl. Univ. Bombay 17 No. 2. 7 In proportion to the greatness of his [sc. Indra's] belly and amplitude of his drinking.
b. Pregnancy in a woman. Usually with with. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [noun]
pregnation?a1425
gravidation1450
pregnancyc1487
conceytatea1500
greatnessa1500
tympany1580
childbearing1612
gestation1615
ingravidation1615
gravidity1651
pregnantness1727
utero-gestation1775
baby-making1827
situation1829
enceinteship1841
tecnogonia1860
infanticipation1934
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin v. 86 Thus was the kynge wedded to Ygerne, and kepe her till her gretnesse apered.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Grauiditas, greatnesse with childe, or with yonge.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. xxiv. v. 890 In this greatnesse of childe bearing.
1701 A. J. Compl. Acct. Portugueze Lang. Greatness with child, O estár prénhe.
1726 F. Altieri Dizionario Italiano & Inglese Ingravidamento.., greatness with child, ingravidation.
1963 W. Graham Grove of Eagles v. x. 560 As for my coming, I am not able because of my greatness with child.
1985 J. Hersey Call ii. 185 Two sufficient reasons for Emily's not enjoying the occasion were her by-then extreme greatness with child and the fact that the club was entirely male.
2. † b. The substance of something very large. Obsolete. rare.
a. The quality or fact of being large in size, or great in extent, quantity, or degree.As an attribute of physical bodies now rare: cf. note at great adj. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun]
micklenesseOE
mickleheadc1300
greatnessc1330
micklehooda1400
muchheada1425
magnitude?a1475
muchness1494
largeness1528
ampleness1566
grandeur1599
extensiveness1639
stupendosity1828
massiveness1855
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun]
micklenesseOE
muchnessa1398
largenessa1400
magnitude?a1425
meta1425
bignessc1487
greatnessc1500
muchity1534
magnity1790
stourness1866
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [noun] > power or range of voice > loudness of voice
stentoriousness1656
greatness1682
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 9001 Com king Rion..On king Bohort loude gredinge, Þe mace arered in his hond..Bohort of þe gretnesse hadde meruail And of him was adred.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 27033 Wan-hope es..Quen man for grettnes of his gilt Has tint þe hope o merci.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 117 (MED) The puple woundride herof for gretnesse of þe myracle.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 304 They were al abasshed of hys gretnes, For he was xv foot of lengthe.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. xxi. 59 b The greatnes & magnificence of the costly & sumptuous Thermes.
1612 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. I. i. i. 21 For greatnesse of number, hugenesse of quantity, strangenesse of shapes.
1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 143 They shouted with that greatness of voice. View more context for this quotation
1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch ii. 168 We must endeavour to preserve the natural Strength, Greatness, Celerity and Crebrity [of the pulse].
1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 79 The greatness of rent which a little farm bears.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 215 The Zara, and the Coanza, from the greatness of whose openings into the sea..we form an estimate of the great distance from whence they come.
1844 M. Howitt tr. E. Carlén Rose of Tistelön I. xiii. 129 Dame Catharine resumed therefore with greatness of tone: [etc.].
1885 Overland Monthly Aug. 173/1 One arrives in the Sierras by slow gradations. You cannot easily understand the greatness of the mountain battlements you ascend.
1907 W. G. Emerson Smoky God in National Mag. Dec. 271/1 Some of the rivers ‘within’..are larger than our Mississippi and Amazon rivers combined, in point of volume of water carried; indeed their greatness is occasioned by their width and depth rather than their length.
1908 J. A. Martin Jayhawker (1910) iii. 17 ‘Is Cliff Small a great man?’ queried the boy, remembering to have heard that name issue with a certain greatness of sound from the lips of the old boomer.
1936 G. H. Wilson Hist. Universities' Mission to Central Afr. xxiv. 115 Bishop Hine was fully alive to the greatness of the task which he had undertaken, and was a little daunted by it.
1980 P. P. Fehl in R. B. Waddington & C. A. Patrides Age of Milton ix. 295 He [sc. Bramante] set out to reconcile greatness of size with a sense of restraint.
2010 J. Sebesta & M. Haynes Cicero ii. 30 If you had a lot of places to visit in a short amount of time, you might choose to emphasize the greatness of the number by using polysyndeton.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun] > largeness of volume or bulkiness
hugenessc1380
grossnessa1513
quantity1554
greatness1595
bulk1626
voluminousness1664
bulkiness1674
volume1794
quantum1815
1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres ii. vii. sig. G3 Goodly riuers that haue made their graues And buried both their names and all their good Within his greatnes to augment his waues.
3. Inherent nobility or dignity (of mind, character, action, expression, or appearance); grandeur, impressiveness; great-heartedness. Also: exceptional ability in the activity, field, or context specified.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > majesty, glory, or grandeur > [noun] > nobility of character or sentiments
earlshipOE
greatness1340
noblenessa1382
hautesse1399
grandeur1656
height1662
elevationa1680
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 164 Magnanimite is heȝnesse, gratnesse, and noblesse of wylhede huerby þe man is hardi ase lyon.
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 57v Gretenesse: magnanimitas, magnificencia..vehemencia.
1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxiv. f. 418 The greatnesse and nobilitie of man placed in dignitie, and who hath puissance ouer other, consisteth not to shew himselfe hard and terrible, for that is the maner of tyrants.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. vi. 10 The greatnes and dignitie of all manner actions is measured by the worthines of the subiect from which they proceede.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 37 As for the main bulk of Palaces, its true some have a greatness in plainness.
c1665 L. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1973) To Children 8 He had..a sweete greatnesse that commanded love.
1697 J. Addison Ess. Georgics in J. Dryden tr. Virgil Wks. sig. ¶3v This Language..has a Natural greatness in it.
1718 Free-thinker No. 6. 1 True Greatness of Mind consists in manfully supporting Misfortunes.
1745 N. Hooke Rom. Hist. II. v. xxvii. 480/1 (note) His brothers..returned silently home, astonished..at Scipio's greatness of soul, and condemning their own excessive attention to make money.
1788 R. Henry Hist. Great. Brit. (ed. 2) V. iii. i. 165 Henry was no less famous over all Europe for his wisdom and justice as a judge, than for his power and greatness as a king.
1834 T. Campbell Life Mrs. Siddons I. iii. 103 Mrs. Jordan had admirers absurd enough to predict her greatness in tragedy.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. 27 Greatness of style consists, then: first, in the habitual choice of subjects of thought which involve wide interests and profound passions.
1877 M. Oliphant Young Musgrave I. 4 The public right of way..was a sign even of the old greatness of the house.
1893 Ann. Rep. Superintendent Public Instr. (New Hampshire State Board Educ.) 210 Those who had known him as professor were not surprised at his greatness on the hustings and in the halls of congress.
1922 M. Hale Beautiful Girlhood vi. 44 Greatness of soul and nobility of heart hide homeliness of face.
1954 A. R. Humphreys Augustan World i. 18 Partridge denies Garrick's greatness as Hamlet because he acts so naturally.
2012 A. N. Mendler When Teaching gets Tough i. 11 One more quality is required for greatness as a teacher: passion.
4. Pre-eminence; distinction, importance, high status; eminence of social or official position; great wealth, fame, or power.
a. As an attribute of God or a god.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > nature or attributes of God > [noun] > glory or greatness
majestyc1300
mickleheadc1300
cleretea1340
greatnessc1350
clarityc1380
the glory of Godc1384
mostheada1400
majestatea1450
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) cl. 2 (MED) Herieþ hym efter þe michelnes of his gretnes.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Deut. v. 24 Lo! oure Lord God schewide to vs his maieste and greetnesse [a1382 E.V. mochelnes].
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 8 It longiþ to þe gretnes of God to graunt singlerly þeis priuilegs.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. vi. 11 Betokening the greatnes of God.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Chron. xxix. 11 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory. View more context for this quotation
1660 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania iv. 267 God is the most Knowable and most Lovely thing in the world; excess of Knowablenesse following the Greatnesse of his Essence.
a1716 R. South Serm. Several Occasions (1744) X. 19 He that accustoms himself to meditate upon the greatness of God, finds [etc.].
1766 G. Lydekker Disc. Greatness & Praise Lord 110 Extol most highly, greatly Praise Jehovah: For his greatness, and Goodness are infinite.
1772 J. Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) II. 113 The incomprehensible greatness and perfection of the divine being.
1846 tr. G. Weil Bible, Koran, & Talmud 171 To Allah belong greatness and might.
1895 A. Menzies Hist. Relig. iv. xv. 267 The god Tyr..is the Eddic figure of the German Tiw or Ziu... His greatness belongs to early times.
1922 W. J. Young When God & Man Meet vi. 248 There is a great tendency to think that we must preserve the dignity and greatness of God.
a1936 ‘A. Avalon’ tr. Puṣpadanta (1953) (title) The greatness of Śiva.
2000 A. P. Pauw in J. Buckley & L. G. Jones Theol. & Eschatol. (2001) 48 It seems to be God's awful greatness..that secures the ultimate defeat of Satan.
b. As an attribute of a nation, city, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > majesty, glory, or grandeur > [noun]
athelc885
highnesseOE
brightnessOE
thrumOE
worshipOE
highship?c1225
nobleyec1300
pridec1330
realtya1375
rialtya1375
greatnessc1384
nobletya1387
magnificencec1390
regalya1393
greatheada1400
hautesse1399
lordliness1440
celsitudec1450
excelsitudec1470
state1488
princeliness1545
kingliness1548
royalty1548
amplitudec1550
grandity1589
grandeur1600
glory1613
majesticalness1613
augusteity1615
grandezza1629
augustness1644
raisedness1645
celsity1656
splendidnessa1657
grandness1663
exaltedness1730
halo1813
queenliness1831
aureole1852
magnateship1916
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Dan. vii. 27 The gretenesse [L. magnitudo] of rewme, whiche is vndre al heuen, be ȝouen to the peple of halewis of the heeȝist.
?1556 N. Smyth tr. Herodian Hist. iv. f. xlviii Antioche, & Alexandrie, bothe Cities of greatnes, not muche inferyor to Rome.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 3 These Iles were vnknowne in Romes greatnesse.
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1690) v. 87 The first Impediment of Englands greatness is, that the Territories thereunto belonging, are too far asunder.
1732 London Mag. Nov. 408/1 Liberty and Trade, the two Sources of National Greatness, live and die together.
1791 W. Rutherford View Antient Hist. II. xviii. 111 This imperious and domineering state [sc. Sparta]..had always watched the movements, and checked the rising greatness of Athens.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 4 Nothing in the early existence of Britain indicated the greatness which she was destined to attain.
1890 Engineering 7 Mar. 305/2 Chicago, whose greatness dates from yesterday.
1921 S. D. Gamble & J. S. Burgess Peking iv. 65 Peking's greatness and glory are the result of its connection with the Government of China.
1965 R. Lowenthal in M. M. Drachkovitch Marxism in Mod. World 250 The relevance to Soviet greatness of further Communist revolutions..appears far more doubtful than before.
1994 K. Perry Business & European Community i. 10 De Gaulle was moved by the fallen greatness of France.
c. As an attribute of a person.
(a) Generally. Also as an attribute of a family or group.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun]
mund?c1250
steemc1330
greatnessc1410
substancec1425
importance1485
weight1521
moment1522
weightiness1530
importancy1531
importunance1546
import1548
reckoning1582
sequel1588
ponderosity1589
valure1594
consequence1597
significance1597
circumstance1599
consequent1599
eminency1622
importmenta1625
concernment1626
consideration1634
telling1636
signification1645
considerableness1647
concerningness1657
nearness1679
significancy1679
respectability1769
interest1809
noteworthiness1852
portee1893
valency1897
c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 123 On hir he gat William conquerour, whos gretnes [L. magnitudinem] to come bytokened þe dreeme of his moder.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 1 A lordis word is worshiped after þe gretnesse of þis lord.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 147 (MED) Thei..þat disputen of þe gretnes & of þe litelnes of seintes.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 52v Ye..souerain of all Shalbe worshipped..And honourt..To be gouernet in your grettenes most godely of other.
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin x. 544 He had made no show..to haue any desire to aspire to the auncient greatnesse of his familie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. v. 140 Some are become great, some atcheeues greatnesse, and some haue greatnesse thrust vppon em.
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 103 He had small joy of his greatnes.
1703 Universal Dict. at Cavendish The first that laid the Foundation of this Family's Greatness, was William Cavendish of Chatsworth in the County of Derby, Esq.
1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. vii. 128 The grave, the End of all temporal Greatness.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 153. ⁋21 Wealth..commands the ear of greatness.
1810 European Mag. Feb. 106/1 He was first secretary of state, then master of the wards, and in the last of her reign, came to be lord treasurer; all which were the steps of his father's greatness.
1860 W. Walker War in Nicaragua viii. 276 Have these words..died into the sobs and sighs and moans of a party which aspired to greatness yet dared not its accomplishment?
1903 G. W. Forrest Cities of India iii. 62 The house of Vama Raja..was succeeded by the Solanki family, whose greatness was founded by Mula Raja.
1950 G. S. Gordon Lives Authors 87 Francis Bacon..grew up in the reign of Elizabeth, but reached greatness in the early seventeenth century under a very different sovereign, King James I.
2003 A. Willesee & M. Whittaker Love & Death in Kathmandu (2004) i. iv. 55 While the Malla dynasty's greatness had waned, all three Malla kings were still individually more powerful than the Shahs of Gorkha.
(b) As a title or form of address, usually with possessive (cf. highness n. 2b). Now chiefly in historical or fantasy fiction. Cf. sense 6b.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun]
yea1225
my Lordc1300
seigniorc1330
squire1382
noblessec1390
lordship1394
grace1423
gentlenessc1425
magnificencec1425
noblenessc1425
greatness1473
worshipc1475
your mightinessa1500
excellency?1533
celsitude1535
altitude1543
Your Honour1551
sublimity1553
excellencea1592
captal1592
gentleperson1597
clemencya1600
gravity1618
grace1625
grandeur1632
eximiousness1648
professorship1656
prince1677
excellenceshipc1716
Graceship1804
seigniorship1823
valiancy1828
your seignorie1829
1473 in T. Thomson Acts Lords Auditors (1839) 29/1 The lordis..counesalis oure souverain lord incontinent to restore him to the samyn..and humbly..besekis his gratnis herefore.
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. C3v What thinks your greatnes best to be atchieud In pursuit of the Cities ouerthrow.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 871 Most esteemed greatnes, will you heare the Dialogue that the two Learned men haue compiled? View more context for this quotation
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 137 After six dayes attendance his Greatnesse was pleased to visit Sheraz.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 51 Int'rest thy Greatness in our mean Affairs. View more context for this quotation
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. Ded. p. xxv Your Greatness was pleased to demand whether this Romance was wholly on my own invention.
1821 tr. A. L. Castellan Turkey 151 ‘Will your greatness,’ said the dervise, ‘permit me to ask one question.’
1846 H. Curling John of Eng. I. viii. 136 ‘What name will your Greatness stoop to take to-night?’ said Mauluc. ‘My Greatness will stoop to be a borrower from yourself, Sir Squire,’ said the King.
1882 L. E. Guernsey Foster-sisters v. 66 How would your Greatness wish to proceed?
1967 P. K. Dick in H. Ellison Dangerous Visions 194 His Greatness has amazing staying power.
2010 R. A. Valicek Alamptria v. 34 Your Greatness, must we involve the council?
5. Magnitude, size, extent, quantity, or degree (whether large or small); relative largeness, relative size. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun]
greatness1381
measurea1382
quantitya1387
muchnessa1398
sizea1400
largec1400
micklec1400
moisonc1400
of suingc1400
bignessc1475
assize1481
proportions1481
bodya1500
dimension1529
measuring1529
wideness1535
bind1551
corporance1570
magnitude1570
mickledom1596
amplitude1599
breadth1609
extendure1613
extension1614
extent1623
extensure1631
dimense1632
dimensity1655
bulkiness1674
bulksomeness1674
admeasurement1754
calliper1819
acreage1846
1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 74 Mak þereof [sc. of pork, spices, and eggyolks] a farsure formed of þe gretnesse of a onyoun.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvi. l. 59 On o More þei growed, And of o gretnesse and grene of greyne þei semen.
?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 472 Make rounde pelettes of the gretnesse of an ey.
1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII c. 19 §14 Nott regardyng the quantitie greatnesse or smalnes of the same penyes.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Cj An Elephant excedeth in greatnes thre wilde oxen.
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 271 These starres..are distincte into diuers measures of lyght, and namely 8, which are called the first greatnes, the second [etc.].
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 506 The flowres in forme and greatnesse are like to those of the Orange-tree.
1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick 29 Greatness is extension, or stretching out..Of greatness, the subject is said to be equal or unequal.
1724 tr. J.-P. de Crousaz New Treat. Art of Thinking II. ii. i. 100 I have the Idea of a Triangle, and that Idea is compounded of many others: among these partial Ideas, I chuse that of two Sides exceeding the third in Greatness.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. xx. 306 That the weight of the roller bear a proportion to the greatness of the diameter.
a1871 A. De Morgan Budget of Paradoxes (1872) 171 The greatness of the number of trials gives something near to the final average.
1919 H. H. Laughlin Duration Several Mitotic Stages in Dividing Root-tip Cells Common Onion 10 The conditions conducive to an accurate measurement of the average absolute duration..depends upon (a) the suddenness and greatness of change in the number of cells beginning the mitotic process [etc.].
1989 P. Oppenheimer Birth Mod. Mind 162 They controlled to some extent the behavior of human beings... Scève speculates on the greatness of the extent.
6. As a count noun.
a. Usually in plural. A great thing, as an act, a quality, position, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > an excellence
greatnessc1384
excellencec1400
merita1586
eminency1602
eminence1609
excellencya1616
transcendiary1654
transcendenta1706
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Macc. ix. 22 And other wordis of bateilis of Judas..and his gretenessis [a1425 L.V. greetnessis; L. magnitudinis], ben not writen.
?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 80 What may theez greatnesses bode, but only az great honor, fame, & renooum for theez parts heerawey, az euer waz vntoo thoz too nobl Greatz: the Macedonian Alexander in Emathia or Grees, or too Romane Charlez in Germany.
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1650) 240 Enormous greatnesses, which are So disproportion'd and so angulare.
1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. J. F. Senault Man become Guilty 101 Those who think to better their condition by revolting are oft undone by their rebellion, and fal from their legitimate greatnesses for having sought after unjust ones.
1652 H. Cogan tr. M. de Scudery Ibrahim ii. iv. 64 I was..to abandon her to grief and dispair, and so return again to enjoy all those greatnesses.
1702 tr. Luis de Granada Sinners Guide i. i. 11 His Power, above all Powers; his Greatness, above all Greatnesses.
1791 Scots Mag. Apr. 194/1 Their respective greatnesses was founded upon the treaties which could not have existed had it taken place.
1878 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. (ed. 2) III. xviii. 75 A true Englishman, with all the greatnesses and none of the glaring faults of his Plantagenet ancestors.
1930 A. Arbib-Costa tr. L. Luzzatti God in Freedom iv. ii. 407 Only one greatness is missing in her [sc. France's] political history, the greatness of the organic organization of constitutional freedom.
1999 J. Wood Broken Estate 253 Yeats's depiction of a world in which man is driven to destroy his own greatnesses.
b. In plural. Great or powerful persons. Earliest in titles or forms of address, with possessive (cf. sense 4c(b)).
ΚΠ
1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes 2nd Pt. Don Quixote lv. 374 I, my Lords, because your Greatnesses would needs haue it so,..went to gouern your Iland Barataria.
1801 C. Erskine Let. 22 Sept. in Coll. State Papers War against France (1802) XI. 380 I have..heard it said, that in consequence of the meeting held by your Greatnesses, you intended to answer collectively to the paternal invitation of his Holiness.
1819 G. Colman Gnome-king i. i. 4 Her father rules a Dutchy;—though, in truth, He ranks with those Small Greatnesses who own A patch of ground, and call it their Dominions.
1837 Tait's Mag. Nov. 728/1 Certain chairs of state and corners of sofas are allotted to ministerial greatnesses.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities (1866) i. i. 4 Thus did the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five conduct their Greatnesses..along the roads that lay before them.
1887 I. F. Hapgood tr. V. Hugo Les Misérables IV. x. ii. 218 Caesar is great, Tacitus is great; God spares these two greatnesses by not allowing them to clash with one another.
1905 W. H. Hunt Pre-Raphaelitism I. xiii. 353 He [sc. Carlyle] was to me one of the real greatnesses of England.
1991 J. Huer Wages of Sin iv. 80 Celebrities, heroes, greatnesses are born with one hit, one act, one bestseller, and vanish just as quickly.
7. With with. Intimacy, familiarity; favour, popularity. Now somewhat archaic.With use in quot. 2003 compare great adj. 19a(a).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > intimacy
privitya1250
nearnessc1485
familiarness1539
inwardness1578
greatnessa1586
privatenessa1586
entireness1599
habitude1612
gossiprya1614
strictnessc1614
mutualitiesa1616
particulara1616
intimity1617
privancy1622
privacy1638
intimacy1641
intimateness1642
familiarity1664
throng1768
closeness1851
close harmony1876
innerliness1888
insociation1893
dearness-
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) sig. Oov But the principall men in honor and might, who had long before enuyed his greatnes with Basilius, did much more spurne against any such preferment of him.
a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman iii. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ee3/1 Your greatnesse with the people.
1668 G. Etherege She wou'd if she Cou'd iv. ii. 71 The access which his greatness With Sir Oliver has given him daily to me.
a1732 E. Calamy Life (1830) I. i. 60 His greatness with him did not in the sequel turn to his honour or advantage.
1791 Topographer June 335 K[ing] Jam[es] I. was jealous of him for his greatness with the king of Spain.
1897 D. H. Fleming Mary Q. Scots 460 (note) Bothwell's greatness with the Queen.
1929 F. E. Ball Swift's Verse vi. 144 The piece tells of his greatness with secretaries of state.
2003 G. Laurie Breakfast with Jesus i. 5 John found true greatness with God and with all humanity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.OE