greateradj.adv.n.

Brit.

/ˈɡreɪtə/, U.S.

/ˈɡreɪdər/

Forms: Old English grytra, Old English gryttra, early Middle English greattre, Middle English grater, Middle English gratter, Middle English grattur, Middle English greatere, Middle English greeter, Middle English greiter, Middle English gretere, Middle English grettere, Middle English grettir, Middle English grettor, Middle English grettore, Middle English grettoure, Middle English grettur, Middle English gretture, Middle English–1500s gretter, Middle English–1500s grettyr, Middle English–1600s greter, Middle English– greater, 1500s greatter, 1500s grytur; Scottish pre-1700 graitter, pre-1700 greitar, pre-1700 greitare, pre-1700 greiter, pre-1700 greittar, pre-1700 greittare, pre-1700 greitter, pre-1700 gretar, pre-1700 gretare, pre-1700 gretear, pre-1700 greter, pre-1700 grettar, pre-1700 grettare, pre-1700 gretter, pre-1700 grettyr, pre-1700 griter, pre-1700 grittar, pre-1700 grytar, pre-1700 gryter, pre-1700 grytter, pre-1700 grytur, pre-1700 1700s–1800s gritter, pre-1700 1700s– greater.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a word inherited from Germanic. Partly formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: great adj., -er suffix³.

Etymology: Originally (in Old English) < the Germanic base of great adj. + the Germanic base of -er suffix³ (see note). In later use largely re-formed < great adj. + -er suffix³.Form history. The Old English (West Saxon) form grȳt(t)ra (for earlier *grīetra ) shows i-mutation of the stem vowel caused by the Germanic comparative suffix *-iz- (see discussion at -er suffix³, and compare A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §§658, 660). The corresponding (unattested) Anglian form *grēt(t)ra underlies some of the Middle English forms, although a few, such as gratter , probably show the reflex of an unmutated Old English form *grēat(t)ra (compare discussion at great adj., n., adv., and int.). Many forms in Middle English and Older Scots have been re-formed on the positive, and hence show a long stem vowel. Development of senses. Many of the compounds listed here have synonymous parallels in great adj. In sense A. 2 perhaps after classical Latin maior greater, older, elder (see major adj.). Many technical uses in sense A. II. are likewise modelled on earlier uses of classical Latin and post-classical Latin maior, and scientific Latin major: e.g. in anatomy (sense A. 4a) with greater hippocampus (quot. 1809) and greater psoas (quot. 2001) compare hippocampus major at hippocampus n. 3a and psoas major at psoas n. 1, and see also quot. 1615; in astronomy (sense A. 4b) with Greater Bear and Greater Dog compare Ursa Maior (see Ursa Major at Ursa n. 2) and Canis Maior (see Canis Major n. at Canis n. 1).

A. adj.

I. General senses.

a. The comparative of great adj. in various senses.

(a) In senses corresponding to great adj. I., primarily relating to physical size.With quot. 1485 cf. sense A. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > larger

moreeOE

greaterOE

OE tr. Alexander's Let. to Aristotle (1995) §18. 236 Wæron hie wunderlicre micelnisse, wæron hie swa greate swa columnan ge eac sume uphyrran & gryttran.

OE Ælfric Homily (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 552 Ele wyxt on treowum, eall swa win deð; ac þa elebeamas beoð maran on wæstme, and þa berian grytran.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 308 Eauer me is leoure. se ȝe don grettere werkes. ne Make ȝe nane Purses..ne blod binden of seolc Ach schapeð..chirche claðes. & poure menne hettren.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 286 Heo comen to-gadere; mid greatere heorte.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. liii. 1204 Þe emptes gaderen gretter burþenes þan here owne bodyes ben.

c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 197 He hadde of gold wroght a ful curious pyn A loue knotte in the gretter ende ther was.

1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) i. iii–v. sig. aij^v Quene Igrayne waxid dayly gretter & gretter, so it befel..he asked hir..whos was the child within her body.

1568 T. Hacket tr. A. Thevet New Found Worlde lxix. f. cxi^v There is another fish,..much more greater than the Porpas.

1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. iii. 15 If it be a made Mast, that is greater than one Tree.

1789 T. Taylor tr. Proclus Philos. & Math. Comm. II. 181 That which is rectangular, is shewn to be greater than that which is non-rectangular.

1837 J. D. Carrick Laird of Logan 2nd Ser. 133 The twa sides of it [sc. a ladder] were so thin and shachly, in fack they looked nae gritter than a fishing wand.

1997 C. Frazier Cold Mountain (2000) 121 A catfish that looked longer than a singletree for an ox team, though much greater in girth.

(b) In senses corresponding to great adj. II., primarily relating to quantity or degree.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [adjective] > more kind

greaterc1540

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12479 Ȝe habbeoð iherd..wulc word heo sendeð us..wið grætere [c1300 Otho grettere] wræððe.

c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) 82 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 495 In penance he was so wel yused & þeron ȝung ibroȝt Þat þo he was of grettere elde hit negreuede him riȝt noȝt.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 238 (MED) Þe more þet he is of grat stat..þe more heþ he [sc. the devil] þe gratter glednesse huanne he him may gyly.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 25 He hadde greet likynge to have gretter lordschipe.

c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 419 Bi long exercise in her pety world, as in a scole to þe grettir world, þei myȝte be able aftirward to come into þe grettir world.

a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 122 We beyre moch gretter charges yerely than done the Scottis.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 60^v Was neuer kyng..his knightes more louet Ne gretter of giftes to his goode men.

1584 A. Montgomerie in King James VI & I Ess. Art of Poesie sig. *iiiij Can Candill lowe giue fyre a greater heit?

1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence 193 The greater your reason is against it, the greater excellency in your obedience.

1662 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour (1669) verse 17. i. vii. §2 264/2 You may hear a greater noise and outis of joy in the Thiefs House than the honest Husbandmans.

1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. ii. viii. 267 Scarce any Man arriv'd at the Empire with a more sully'd Reputation, or a greater Repugnancy of the People.

1748 tr. P. Lozano True Relation Earthquake Lima i. 39 A French Toise, or Fathom, is about five Inches greater than the English.

1793 W. Buchanan Hist. Anc. Surname of Buchanan 8 The Danes..with a greater army and more resolute than ever, invaded Scotland a fourth time.

1830 W. Hazlitt Life Napoleon Buonaparte III. xxxiv. 114 If the reign of terror excited their fears and horror, the establishment of the Empire under Buonaparte seemed an even greater affront.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 16 The sound..appears to come from greater and greater distances.

1885 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1884–5 13 656 It is probably unsafe to subject annealed wrought iron to a prolonged static stress greater than about 40 per cent. of that which unannealed iron of the same kind can safely carry.

1903 R. Kipling Five Nations Ded. p. v Before a midnight breaks in storm, Or herded sea in wrath, Ye know what wavering gusts inform The greater tempest's path.

1935 T. Wolfe Of Time & River ii. vii. 91 The greater the number of the books he read, the greater the immense uncountable number of those which he could never read would seem to be.

1967 Bull. Entomol. Res. 57 422 Trees..with flat crowns and bole usually greater in height than depth of crown.

2002 T. Nairn Pariah ii. 22 ‘Transformism’ would go on to enjoy much greater success and longer life in Britain than it had done in Italy.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being better or superior > [adjective]

bettereOE

selerOE

betc1175

greaterc1325

unmeeta1393

masculinec1425

above one's matchc1500

superior?c1550

uppera1586

precedent1598

supereminent1599

empyreal1641

prerogative1646

paramount1654

subalternating1671

racy1675

ranking1847

plus1860

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > [adjective] > more famous or eminent

greatera1616

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 4794 (MED) Grettere [c1400 BL Add. grettor] oþ non nis Þan bi þe holde chirche of glastingbury.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ii. xvii. 80 For archangelis beþ aboue angels, as it is iseide in Zacaria, þere þe gretter angel seiþ to þe lasse: Go and teche þis childe.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11078 O wijf..was neuer born nan A gretter barn þan sant iohan.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1267 (MED) All þe Messedones..Makis þar mane..For maistris & mynistris menere & grettir.

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 46 (MED) It is a gostly medicyn and memory of raunsom, bi wilk we deserue greiter þingis.

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Euensong f. vi^v And in thys trinitie, none is afore nor after other: none is greater nor lesse then other.

1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 75 We culd neuer wishe ane gryter benefit nor yat Christ Iesus our lord..suld sa giv him self haill for vs.

1611 B. Jonson Catiline ii. sig. E2^v Great Father Mars, and greater Ioue.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 63 Lesser then Macbeth, and greater .

1664 S. Pepys Diary 15 July (1971) V. 207 He says he is as great with the Chancellor, or greater, then ever in his life.

1705 R. Blackmore Eliza i. 12 Scarce greater Deeds by Satan's Arms were done.

1743 Hist., Geneal., & Classical Dict. II. at Lorrain (Charles of) I have kissed as handsome ladies, and of as great or greater families than you.

1798 C. Philpot Introd. Lit. Hist. 14th & 15th Cent. iii. ii. 272 England had greater men, but fewer who rose out of the ranks of mediocrity.

1837 E. Howard Old Commodore xxx. 252 Standing before her in all the independence—perhaps in the superiority—of an innately greater soul.

1872 R. Morris Freemasonry in Holy Land 459 Allah hoo achbar...This in plain English is: God is greater.

1902 Westm. Gaz. 25 Nov. 8/1 You never made a greater mistake in your life.

1941 B. Veiller Fun I've Had vi. 89 Barrymore was a very great Hamlet and Booth was a greater Hamlet, and greater than these two was Forbes-Robertson.

1973 New York 17 Sept. 78/2 A work of even greater rarity, Frederick Delius's A Village Romeo and Juliet, comes to the city this week.

2005 L. H. Kaufman Leaders Count i. 1 Tulip mania was a classic example of the ‘greater fool’ theory at work—the assumption that no matter how much an investor pays, there always will be a greater fool who will pay more.

b. With the. That constitutes more than half, larger, more considerable in number or quantity, that is in the majority, as the greater part, †the greater sort, etc. for (also in) the greater part: = for (also in) the greatest part at greatest adj. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority

the more partOE

the best part ofOE

(the) more parta1350

(the) most parta1350

(the) most part alla1350

(the) most party1372

for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387

the better part ofa1393

the mo?a1400

most forcea1400

substancea1413

corsec1420

generalty?c1430

the greater partc1430

three quartersc1470

generalityc1485

the most feck1488

corpse1533

most1553

nine-tenths?1556

better half1566

generality?1570

pluralityc1570

body1574

the great body (of)1588

flush1592

three fourths1600

best1601

heap1609

gross1625

lump1709

bulk1711

majority1714

nineteen in twenty1730

balance1747

sweighta1800

heft1816

chief1841

the force1842

thick end1847

c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 2213 Tow bed..that hast receyuyd two..Where is thyn grettere part awey I-gon?

a1450–1500 ( Libel Eng. Policy (1926) l. 100 The wolle of Spayne hit cometh not to presse But if it be tosed and menged well Amonges Englysshe wolle the gretter delle.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 76 The gretter party of oure people ar slayne and distressed.

1551 W. Thomas tr. Livy Argument Apparaile of Women sig. Bviii There is no law, that serueth to euery mans profite: but this ought to be regarged, whether it bee commodiouse for the greatter part and generally.

1565 T. Stapleton tr. F. Staphylus Apologie f. 119^v The Ciuill Lutherans, and Melanchthonistes beare all the rule in Misnia, in the greater parte of Franconia, and at Norimberg.

1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis 42 The greater sort do agree that this word [sc. image] is distinguished from Likeness.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. iv. 3 b The greater part of us went a shoare to see the Ilande.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 29 The greater part, the Horse in generall Are come with Cassius.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 399 The greater file of the subiect held the Duke to be wise.

1692 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 2) ii. 81 The Hexapods from which the greater sort of Beetles come.

1710 J. Swift Tale of Tub (ed. 5) Apol. sig. A7^v For the greater Part the Reflecter is entirely mistaken.

1729 W. Law Serious Call xix. 354 The much greater part of them, are not brought up so well..as in the present instance.

1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper II. 249 The characters in tragedy are, for much the greater part, out of common life.

1793 A. Young Trav. France II. xvi. 353 In some districts, the course is for two years; but in the greater part it is for more than three.

1829 W. S. Landor Wks. (1846) II. 210/1 The greater number of men..are disposed, on most occasions, rather to virtue than to vice.

1869 R. Williams tr. Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics v. 151 A justice produces equality in the same way as if, a line having been divided into two unequal segments, one were to take the excess of the greater segment.., and were to cut it off from the greater segment, and add it to the less.

1917 Wairarapa (N.Z.) Daily Times 13 Oct. 4 The deceased..took the greater portion of a box of ‘Rough on Rats’ and immediately became seriously ill.

1921 National Geographic Mag. Mar. 280/1 A narrow green belt..pursues the river through the Jordan Valley, which for the greater part is an arid waste.

1952 M. Kennedy Troy Chimneys 25 My father, for the greater part of the time, is still at Cambridge.

2001 S. O'Donovan-Polten Scales of Success vi. 145 Women continued to shoulder the greater share of responsibility for household maintenance and management.

c. Modifying the name of a place, country, region, etc.

(a) Modifying the name of a country or geographical region with colonies, dependencies, areas of control or influence, etc., signifying either the whole entity or the colonies, etc., in relation to the main territory. Formerly also: the larger of two regions or territories with the same name, the larger of two parts into which a region is divided (obsolete).

ΚΠ

a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. l. 1270 Perce costeieth enviroun Septemtrion and the grettere Inde And many a-nothir myhti regioun.

c1450 Three Kings Cologne (BL Add.) l. 725 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1912) 129 66 To grettere Ynde scho garte hir message goo To purches the bones of kynge Iasper.

1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 216^v Sebastian Munster in his vniuersall Cosmographie in the fyfthe booke of the landes of the greater Asia..hath wrytten of the vyage of Magellanus.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xx. 134 Armenia the greater, nowe called Turcomania, and Armenia the lesser, which yet reserueth his name.

1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. xx. 76 Al that part of Italy (sur-named the greater Greece).

1616 T. Coryate Traveller for Eng. Wits 19 My whole perambulation of this Asia the greater.

1732 tr. Voltaire Hist. Charles XII iv. 151 Siberia, a large province of the Greater Tartary,..extends itself Eastward to the frontiers of the Chinese Empire.

1794 Brit. Critic Feb. 154 Pythagoras and Plato are known to have visited both Egypt and the Greater Asia.

1868 C. W. Dilke (title) Greater Britain: travels 1866–67.

1898 H. S. White tr. H. von Sybel Founding of German Empire by William I. VI. xxi. ii. 83 The present endeavors were in reality preparatory to a greater Prussia rather than to a united Germany.

1918 H. H. Powers Amer. among Nations 230 There must be no Greater Russia, and there must be a Greater Japan. That is the program of Japan.

1939 Ann. Reg. 1938 190 After the Anschluss with Austria, Czechoslovakia was surrounded on three sides by Greater Germany.

1996 J. Shea Macedonia & Greece x. 324 The immediate relevance of concepts of a Greater Serbia, a Greater Bulgaria, a Greater Albania and even a Greater Greece.

(b) Modifying the name of a city with outlying boroughs, suburbs, etc., signifying either the whole entity or the areas outside the city proper.

ΚΠ

1844 W. M. Thackeray in Punch 3 Aug. 61/1 That abominable suburb stretching away from Waterloo Bridge, and into the Greater London.

1882 Encycl. Brit. IV. 834/1 The London police district, or ‘Greater London’, is divided into two police jurisdictions, that of the metropolitan police,..and that of the City police.

1898 Appletons' Dict. N.Y. p. iii The present edition of this book is the first to deal with the territory of the ‘Greater New York’ as constituting one municipality.

1955 Times 2 Aug. 6/5 Motorists living in the Greater London area were on the roads early in the morning bound for the seaside or the country.

1958 Listener 21 Aug. 274/2 Apart from Greater London and Greater Birmingham all the conurbations were either increasing their population at a rate far lower than the nation as a whole or (in the case of Greater Manchester) were even losing population.

1981 M. A. McKean Environmental Protest & Citizen Politics in Japan 190 Most mayors who received praise from urban activists were reformist mayors in cities in and near the Greater Tokyo area.

2000 Heritage Feb. 32/1 Bramall Hall..is now part of Greater Manchester, but it resided in Cheshire for the best part of 500 years until local government reorganization in 1974.

†2. Older, elder. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [adjective] > older than an age > older

elderOE

greater?a1425

large1788

?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 178, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Knave-child Laxe as in fleschie places of ȝunge maiden childern and summe time lesse moiste as in soukinge knaue childern & in gretter maydens.

?c1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 383 (MED) He þat is gratter of ȝow, loke þat he be made as ȝongar in sympilnes.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. xvii. 28 And Eliab his greater brother herde him talke with the men.

1693 J. Dryden tr. Homer Iliad vi. in Examen Poeticum 463 The two Ajaces have I often seen, And the wrong'd Husband of the Spartan Queen: With him his greater Brother.

1793 Brit. Critic Aug. 466 The greater children, who teach the younger to read..certain maxims of the Coran.

†3. Pregnant. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [adjective]

greatc1175

with childc1175

with childc1300

baggeda1400

bounda1400

pregnant?a1425

quicka1450

greaterc1480

heavyc1480

teeming1530

great-bellied1533

big1535

boundenc1540

impregnate1540

great-wombeda1550

young with child1566

gravid1598

pregnate1598

pagled1599

enceinte1602

child-great1605

conceived1637

big-bellieda1646

brooding1667

in the (also a) family way1688

in the (also that) way1741

undelivered1799

ensient1818

enwombeda1822

in a delicate condition1827

gestant1851

in pod1890

up the (also a) pole1918

in a particular condition1922

preg?1927

in the spud line1937

up the spout1937

preggy1938

up the stick1941

preggers1942

in pig1945

primigravid1949

preggo1951

in a certain condition1958

gestating1961

up the creek1961

in the (pudding) cluba1966

gravidated-

c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora 550 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 114 Syne eftyre of tyme in processe hapnyt þat scho gretare wes, & hyr frendis sperit ȝarne, quha with hyr gat þat barne.

II. In technical uses, opposed to lesser.

a. Anatomy. Forming names of parts of the body that are the larger of two related or neighbouring structures, or the larger division of a structure. Cf. great adj. 4b.greater omentum: see Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 14 A concauitee in which is restreyned..þe beked additament of þe gretter focile in tyme of þe raisyng vp of þe arme.

1578 J. Banister Hist. Man iv. f. 58^v It is a short muscle, but thicke, and is ioyned to the greater Trochanter.

1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 795 The second muscle is called Serratus maior or the greater saw-muscle.

1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. iii. viii. 94 In othersome the fibers are more distant in the taile, as in the greater Saw-muscle arising from the bottome of the shoulder-blade.

1657 N. Culpeper & W. Rand tr. J. Riolan Sure Guide i. xxi. 17 The foremost is called the lesser Trochanter; the upermost [sic], on the side, the greater Trochanter.

1739 Philos. Trans. 1737–8 (Royal Soc.) 40 136 The upper external or greater Trochanter.

1793 J. Bell Anat. Bones, Muscles, & Joints 179 The..Greater Sigmoid Cavity, is for receiving the lower end of the humerus.

1809 C. Bell Anat. Human Body (U.S. ed.) III. iii. 54 The lesser hippocampus, or colliculus,..has the same relation to the fornix which the greater hippocampus has.

1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. v. 180 The deep concavity..called the greater ischiatic notch.

1918 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 5) 1446 The pectoral branches being secured as they cross the interval and clavicular portions of the greater pectoral.

1972 J. T. Robinson Early Hominid Posture & Locomotion ii. 15 A strongly developed, deep greater sciatic notch is formed.

2001 R. Bendavid et al. Abdominal Wall Hernias v. 58/2 The greater psoas is thus well formed in the upper lumbar region.

b. Astronomy. In the names of certain constellations and stars, as Greater Bear (= Great Bear n.), Greater Dog (= Canis Major n. at Canis n. 1; cf. dog n.¹ 7, Great Dog n. at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1e).Now largely superseded by great.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > constellation > [adjective]

lesser1540

greater1556

asteristic1652

binary stars1802

constellatory1819

asterismal1840

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. viii. xxiii. 503 Þe signe Arthurus..is propirliche a sterre iset bihinde þe taile of þe signe þat hatte Vrsa Maior ‘þe more bere’.]

1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 263 The lesser Beare..the greater Beare.

1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) sig. QQ.v^v These Signes besyde do ryse Wyth Lion fierce: the Egle, Hare, and Dog of lesser syse, The former legges of greater Dog, and head of Hydra springs.

1612 F. Holyoake Riders Dict. (ed. 3) sig. Nn3/2 Antecanis,..a starre called the lesser dogge starre, so called because it riseth before the greater dogge starre.

1674 J. Moxon Tutor to Astron. & Geogr. (ed. 3) 209 Ursa Major, the Greater Bear.

1712 E. Wells Young Gentleman's Astron., Chronol., & Dialling vii. 89 The southern Constellations known to the Antients are the Whale, Eridanus, the Hare, orion, the greater Dog, the lesser Dog, [etc.].

1837 Fraser's Mag. 16 409 The greater bear appears under the typhonian figure of a pig standing on his hind-legs.

1923 Times 1 Nov. 20/3 Procyon, the lesser Dog, called so in distinction to Sirius, the greater Dog.

2008 H. Lehman Lang. God in Prophecy (ed. 10) iv. 182 Next to Ursa Minor is Ursa Major, or the Greater Bear.

c. In the names of plants and animals distinguished by their larger size from similar ones of the same name. Cf. great adj. 4a.See also Compounds 3.greater black-backed gull, moonwort, padloper, plantain, redpoll, reedmace, etc.: see the second element.

ΚΠ

1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health 67 This water hath in a manner the same vertues, which the greater Plantaine possesseth.

1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian (new ed.) 20/1 The Pouder or dried Leavs of the Blue bottle, or Cornflower is given with good success..being taken in the Water of Plantane, Horstail, or the greater Comfry.

1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 339 The Greater Loon or Arsfoot, Colymbus major.

1764 G. Edwards Gleanings Nat. Hist. III. 326/1 (table) The round-crested Duck, the greater Dobchick, and the all-green Humming-bird.

1776–96 W. Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 745 Greater Knapweed.

1837 Lady’s Mag. & Museum May 319/1 The bellis major, commonly called the greater daisy, is a handsome wild annual flower that blooms in July and August.

1876 S. Smiles Life Sc. Naturalist xi. 213 A Greater Shrike or Butcher bird.

1890 Friends' Intelligencer & Jrnl. 20 Dec. 816/1 The velvety lemon spikes of the greater mullein.

1917 J. W. Henshaw Wild Flowers N. Amer. Mountains 342 The Greater Bladderwort is a very curious plant which grows in shallow pools and ponds, and has yellow flowers.

1955 W. R. B. Oliver N.Z. Birds (ed. 2) 604 Greater Extinct Eagle... The first discovered bones of this species were found in 1871.

1976 Proc. Royal Irish Acad. B. 76 325 There was a single patch of greater periwinkle Vinca major on the southern border of the sandpit.

1999 S. Jones Almost like Whale ii. 44 The glaucous gull is more subtle—as large as a greater black-backed, but as pale as a herring gull.

2003 Org. Gardening Sept. 12/2 I leave them until September to allow the field scabious and greater knapweed to flower into the early autumn.

5. Music. = major adj. 7.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > major

plain1445

perfecta1450

greater1597

major1653

sharp1694

1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke Annot. sig. ¶^v The greater halfe note is that distance which is betwixt fa and mi.

1655 Campion's Art of composing Musick in Parts in J. Playford Introd. Skill Musick ii. 10 A sixt beneath the Base is a third above, and if it be the lesser sixt, then is the third above the greater third.

1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony iv. 80 I would..call the greater Third (as the Greeks do) Ditone.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Diesis Enharmonical Diesis is the Difference between a greater, and lesser Semi-tone.

1776 J. Hawkins Gen. Hist. Music I. 75 The greater or sesquioctave tone, 9 to 8, and the lesser or sesquinonal tone, 10 to 9.

1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 317 Greater Sixth.

1887 R. Browning C. Avison in Parleyings iv The key Was..C..with the Greater Third.

1913 Musical Times 54 788/1 Joachim..would play the greater tone first and the lesser second.

1988 Jrnl. Musicol. 6 260 The greater semi-tone was in the neighborhood of three-fifths of a tone.

B. adv.

In a greater degree, to a greater extent; more greatly, more.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in or to a greater degree or extent

moeOE

moreOE

furtherc1050

greaterc1230

furthermorea1300

heldera1400

largerlya1425

any more1533

farthera1535

furtherfortha1542

preferentially1864

worse1883

much more1912

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 58 Heo schal beo greattre ibollen..ȝef ha setteð hire wordes..soðliche wið uten hihðe & hehschipe in a softe steuene.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xx. 28 For spiritus fortitudinis..shal do more þan mesure..And greue men gretter þan goode faith it wolde.

1496 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (de Worde) i. xlii. sig. dvii^v/1 Greter sodayne deth wyste I neuer than that men had than.

1656 A. Cowley Mistress (new ed.) 32 in Poems She being so high, and I so low, Her power by this does greater show.

1787 Authentic Copy Corr. in India VI. 175 The present hour is what they alone look to the advantage of, which they will not forego for greater certain prospects, if remote.

1852 Mrs. Gore Craigallen Castle xxv. 90/1 Sarah..became greater afraid that a shadow was hovering over the household which would soon settle down to midnight darkness.

1876 J. F. Cobb Heroes of Charity 155 The more that could be said by rote, the greater pleased were the parents.

1911 Evid. Joint Comm. Tuberculin Test (47th General Assembly, State of Illinois) II. 36/1 Would you say in the cow number thirty-five (35),..the presence of tuberculosis showed greater than the other two?

2011 P. J. Wojciechowski & W. E. Hurford in P. Slinger Princ. & Pract. Anesthesia for Thoracic Surg. viii. 123/1 Long-acting beta-2 agonists are prescribed..when rescue therapies..are used greater than two times per week.

C. n.

A person or thing of greater size, importance, eminence, etc., than another.

a. With possessive. A person's superior in status, position, achievement, or (in early use) age. Also figurative. Now somewhat rare.Formerly also with unmarked plural (cf. quot. c1350).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [noun] > person of > specific superior

un-i-makeOE

betterOE

higherOE

greaterc1350

priora1425

overerc1443

superior?a1475

superordinate1816

c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) 186 (MED) Aske þy fader, and he shal telle þe, and þi gretter [L. majores], & hij shul saien to þe.

a1400 Prov. Wisdom (Bodl.) l. 56 in Anglia (1927) 51 222 Love alwey þi bettyr And groche not aȝen þi gretter.

1482 Cronycles of Englond (Caxton) sig. q6 Kyng Edward his gretter & his fadre.

1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades i. 8 Your greaters and your grauers to, I known haue heretofore, Who haue my counsel ay obeyed.

1627 J. Carter Plaine Expos. Serm. in Mount 85 They come farre short, not onely of some of their compeeres and greaters especially, but of many very base creatures.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 172 Thou Sun, of this great World both Eye and Soule, Acknowledge him thy Greater .

1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 279 He..first Refus'd on me his Baptism to confer, As much his greater, and was hardly won.

1830 T. W. C. Edwards Eton Lat. Gram. (ed. 6) 261 Est it is adolescéntis the dúty of a young man reveréri to réverence majóres nátu his élders, or, his greáters by birth.

1919 H. G. Wright Life & Wks. Arthur Hall x. 88 Often enough, poor man though he may be, he has preferred Cecil to earls and their greaters.

2006 M. Rosenberg & M. Rosenberg Masks of Antony & Cleopatra 228 Once more we are with subordinates commenting on their greaters.

b. Without possessive. Often with the: (a) (with singular or plural agreement) the greater one or ones; (b) (with singular agreement) that which is greater.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > of more importance

greatera1425

big brother1860

the half of it1932

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > condition of being more than another > (a) greater amount > that which is

greater1542

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Isa. xxxii. 5 He that is vnwijs, schal no more be clepid prince, and a gileful man schal not be clepid the grettere [a1382 E.V. a meir, L. major].

a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1976) i. 17 (MED) Aftir þe smale þey wiln ellys stelyn þe gretere.

1542 R. Record Ground of Artes (1575) 148 The greater of the twoo propounded numbers doth containe the lesser.

1582 Bible (Rheims) Matt. xxiii. 11 He that is the greater of you, shal be your seruiteur.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 6 The greater scornes the lesser.

a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 301 The Greater substracted from the Lesser, the Remain will be so much too short.

1735 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Syst. Nat. Philos. (ed. 3) I. i. xiii. 79 It would have had the same Quantity of Determination, but a greater of Motion.

1799 W. Burdon Exam. Merits & Tendency Pursuits Lit. I. 46 Our Author, with his minor and major powers of democracy.., with singular ingenuity..has included the greater in the lesser.

1845 J. R. McCulloch Treat. Taxation i. i. 55 Unless a method should be found of taking a greater from a less.

1852 C. Kingsley in Fraser's Mag. May 547/1 ‘But these Nitrian savages’—‘Are the perfect examples of monkers [1853 monkery], and you hate them; and therefore all greaters containing the less, you hate all less monastic monks.’

1898 J. Morley in Westm. Gaz. 27 June 10/1 We mourn for one of the greater among the servants of mankind.

1952 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Aug. Suppl. p. xlvii The birth of the Little Magazine may also now be seen in retrospect as heralding the decline of the greater.

2011 C. Woodham tr. Bhāgavat Purana x, in God who Dances 288 Moreover, equals wed each other; that's how it should be. When greaters marry lessers, though, they live in misery.

Compounds

C1. Forming parasynthetic adjectives, as greater-sized, etc. Cf. great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1b, greatest adj., n., and adv. Compounds 1.

ΚΠ

1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 101 Wilde lekes..greater heded then they were that I saw about Bon.

1597 F. Bacon Of Coulers Good & Euill (Arb.) v. 144 Men whose living lieth together in one Shire, are commonly counted greater landed then those whose livings are dispersed.

1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vii. 327 Wee should see flockes of flying Fishes..whose bignesse and length are like to Mackrels, but greater headed and shouldered.

1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum at Erica Scoparia altera The Flowers..stand three together at the Tops,..turning all one Way, being somewhat larger, and greater bellied, but of a deeper red Colour than the last.

1792 W. M. Moseley Ess. Archery v. 103 Large, as well as small ropes..proved of very great use, when applied to the military weapons, and the greater sized engines.

1838 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 334/2 The animal is greater boned, and of a larger size.

1841 Chartist Circular 27 Feb. 314/1 But the genius of his latent nobility developes, and..makes him a wiser, better, nobler, and a greater-minded shepherd than Rodger or Bauldy.

1889 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 1 Jan. 20/1 Merinos..will thrive where the greater sized mutton sheep will fail to earn a living.

1922 Graduate Mag. (University of Kansas) Jan. 15 There apparently was no need for a greater sized enclosure.

2006 A. Fraser Love & Louis XIV (2007) ii. vii. 130 The greater-souled Bossuet, now a bishop.

C2.

Greater Asianism n. (also with lower-case initial in the first element) now chiefly historical any of various doctrines and movements advocating the political unification of Asia or solidarity among Asian nations, esp. against the perceived threat of Western political and cultural domination; = Great Asianism n.

ΚΠ

1933 Christian Leader (Boston) 9 Sept. 1126/1 Another [person] has advocated the Greater Asianism to emancipate the Asian races from the oppression of the imperialism of Europe and America.

1951 South China Sunday Post-Herald 29 July 22/6 There were ‘great difficulties’ in controlling them [sc. terrorist and military organizations] because they were..dedicated to anti-Communism, national defence or ‘Greater Asianism’.

2008 Japanese Jrnl. Polit. Sci. 9 243 A number of critics have debated over the reasons why Hirano, the most prominent Japanese leader of academic theoretical Marxism in the pre-World War II years ‘converted’ to Greater Asianism during the war.

Greater and Lesser Litany n. see litany n. 1a.

Greater Bairam n. see Bairam n.

Greater Book of the Covenant n. see covenant n. 7d.

† greater circle n. Geography Obsolete = great circle n. at circle n. 2a.

ΚΠ

1639 E. Chilmead tr. R. Hues Learned Treat. Globes iii. ii. 141 (heading) Of the Circumference of the Earth, or of a Greater Circle.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Great The Equator, Meridian, Ecliptic, Vertical, &c. are great or greater Circles of the Sphere; and the Parallels, Tropicks, &c. lesser Circles.

Greater Feria n. Roman Catholic Church (now historical) (before the second Vatican Council of 1962–5) a day of a liturgically important week that has its own distinctive office or commemoration, as Ash Wednesday, Monday in Rogation Week, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > [noun] > double, important

double feast?c1225

Great Dayc1350

red-letter day1663

doublec1690

feria1763

Greater Feria1763

1763 Divine Office for Use of Laity II. 4 The following Ferias, called Greater Ferias, take place of all Simples, and there is only a Commemoration made of them at Mass, viz. the Ferias of Advent and of Lent, the Ember-Days, Tuesday in Rogation-Week.

1870 L. Shepherd tr. P. Guéranger Liturg. Year: Advent (ed. 2) I. 520 She interrupts the Greater Ferias in order to pay her tribute of honour to Thomas, the Apostle of Christ.

1906 E. H. Blair et al. Philippine Islands, 1493–1803 XXXIV. 354 The privilege granted by apostolic indult of reciting a votive office on certain days of the week or month cannot be made use of on these greater feriæ.

1965 Musical Times 106 923/2 (advt.) December 20th: Greater Feria (‘O Clavis David’).

greater George n. see George n. 1b.

greater infortune n. see infortune n. 2.

greater nobility n. the members of the higher ranks of the aristocracy, nobility above the rank of baron or its equivalent, esp. in continental Europe.

ΚΠ

1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Mm1^v/1 Garter [King at Arms] is the principall [herald]..whose office is..to marshall the solemnities of the funerals of all the greater nobility, as of Princes, Dukes, Marquises, Earles, Vicounts, and Barons.

1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor 344 Barons with the rest vpward wee call the Greater Nobilitie, the others beneath them the Lesse Nobilitie.

1720 S. Segar Titles of Honour Introd. xii To these Parliaments, so many Barons as would, (understand here all the greater Nobility) after Notice of the King's Purpose, came, and sat with him.

1772 Town & Country Mag. Oct. 595/1 There are seven sorts of esquires... Thirdly, The eldest sons of the youngest sons of barons, and others of the greater nobility.

1890 W. R. Morfill Russia viii. 187 Thus the greater nobility wished to concentrate all the power in their own hands, and the lesser nobility were not willing to agree to this.

1995 S. Clark State & Status vii. 240 As the greater nobility lost its territorial power [in France], it attended court more often than in earlier periods.

greater omentum n. [after scientific Latin omentum maius (1792 or earlier)] the larger section of the omentum, connecting the stomach to the transverse colon and hanging down like a sheet in front of the jejunum and ileum; also called great omentum, gastrocolic omentum; cf. lesser omentum n. at lesser adj., adv., and n. Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1804 C. Bell Anat. Human Body IV. 35 They [sc. the appendices epiploicæ] are of the same texture and use with the greater omentum and right colic omentum.

1914 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. 1162 The greater omentum hangs down like an apron from the transverse colon, in front of the coils of the jejunum and ileum.

2003 U. Peter-Czichi tr. W. Kuehnel Color Atlas Cytol., Histol., & Microsc. Anat. (ed. 4) 338 During fetal development, the greater omentum is a continuous cellulous connective tissue membrane.

greater sapphic n. see Sapphic n. 1

greater-than sign n. the symbol >, typically used in mathematical contexts to denote that the quantity on the left of the sign is larger than the quantity on the right of it; cf. less-than sign n. at less adj., adv., pron., n., and prep. Compounds.The signs < and > were invented by Thomas Harriot before 1621 (see Artis analytica praxis (1631) 10).

ΚΠ

1885 J. Jackson Pract. Arithm. 40 (table) > read ‘is greater than’, sign of inequality.]

1953 Jrnl. Mech. & Physics Solids 1 222 The greater than sign requires the stress point to be on RA.

1985 Math. Mag. 58 151 We should decide whether the equality sign should be replaced by a greater than sign or a less than sign.

2009 D. Kirsanov Bk. Inkscape 370 Everything between the less-than sign (<) and the greater-than sign (>) is a tag.

C3. In the names of plants and birds (see also sense A. 4c).

greater celandine n. a yellow-flowered perennial plant, Chelidonium majus (family Papavaraceae), of western Eurasia, containing various toxic alkaloids, and considered to have medicinal properties.

ΚΠ

1569 R. Androse tr. ‘Alessio’ 4th Bk. Secretes 55 Take the greene rootes of Celendine the greater, and braye them with Brimstone, and annoint therwith the place.

1605 J. Mosan tr. C. Wirsung Gen. Pract. Physick 3rd Index sig. Lll2 Scrophularia major, the greater Celandine, or the greater figwort.

1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 618 The greater Celandine is hot and dry in the third degree, and of a clensing facultie.

1732 tr. H. Boerhaave Elements Chymistry I. 22 If the greater Celandine be prick'd, you get a golden juice in which its virtue resides.

1802 A. F. M. Willich Domest. Encycl. IV. 377 Take a handful of the tops of rue, and a similar portion of the greater celandine.

1903 Cornhill Mag. Aug. 46 My favourite [garden weed] of all, the Greater Celandine, in Somerset called the Witches' Flower.

2008 A. Al-Achi Introd. Bot. Med. vi. 80 Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) is another herb with antispasmodic action. However, this herb is highly toxic to the liver.

greater forkbeard n. (also greater forked beard) an elongated gadoid fish, Phycis blennioides (family Phycidae), having a barbel on the chin and distinctive pelvic fin rays reduced to long forked filaments, found in the north-east Atlantic and Mediterranean.

ΚΠ

1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 158 The Lesser Hake..is known on the coast of Cornwall by the name of the greater forked beard.

1864 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands III. 125 Goatfish. The Greater Forkbeard, Phycis furcatus.

1962 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 14 41 The fisheries research vessel caught..eight Greater Forkbeards whilst trawling in Bantry Bay.

2016 Sunday Times (Nexis) 17 Jan. 10 Customers at Oscar's can expect a wide range of lesser-known fish such as bluemouth and Sweaty Betty (aka greater forkbeard).

† greater maple n. Obsolete the sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore n. 2).

ΚΠ

1669 Philos. Trans. 1668 (Royal Soc.) 3 856 The Sycamore, which is the greater Maple (some call it the Plane).

1778 J. Abercrombie Universal Gardener & Botanist (at cited word) The Greater Maple is a stately tree, of free growth.

1873 R. Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 3) ii. iii. 458 The latter [sc. Acer Pseudo-platanus] is generally known under the names of the Sycamore, Greater Maple, and Mock-plane.

1907 Nature Notes Aug. 160 ‘Greater Maple’ is a more correct name for Acer Pseudo-platanus than is ‘Sycamore’, as the latter name belongs properly to an Oriental species of Ficus.

1921 Lumber & Veneer Consumer (Chicago) 30 June 13/3 The greater maple, sycamore or plane tree of Europe is extensively planted in both Europe and in America. It is a large tree with a spreading head.

† greater plover n. Obsolete the common greenshank, Tringa nebularia.Cf. great plover n. (a) at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1g.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Tringa > tringa nebularia (greenshank)

greater plover1678

greenshank1766

chevalier1885

1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 298 Greater Plover of Aldrovand: the Venetian Limosa of Gesner.

1828 J. Jennings Ornithologia 163 The Glottis..or Greater Plover, has the bill about two inches and a half long.

1863 H. G. Adams Our Feathered Families 133 The Green-legged Longshank (Glottis chloropus), also called the..Greater Plover, or Green-legged Horseman.

greater spotted woodpecker n. = great spotted woodpecker n. at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1g.

ΚΠ

1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 84 The greater spotted Wood-pecker or Hickwall; Picus varius major.

1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 587 Rayed W[oodpecker]. This is a little bigger than the greater spotted Woodpecker.

1840 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds III. 80 Greater spotted woodpecker..wood-pie, French-pie.

1991 Bird Watching June 63/3 Ayton Castle CBC plot had two greater spotted woodpeckers drumming.

greater stitchwort n. a scrambling perennial plant, Stellaria holostea (family Caryophyllaceae), of woodland and other shaded habitats in Europe, with white flowers on long stems and narrow grass-like leaves.

ΚΠ

1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 1325 The greater Stitchwort hath sundry round slender stalkes, rising from the roote, scarse able to sustain themselves.

1771 R. Warner Plantæ Woodfordienses 27 The greater Stitchwort... Under hedges, and on the sides of fields.

1863 Trans. Hawick Archaeol. Soc. 60/2 The Greater Stitchwort or All-bones, makes the woods gay with its large and delicate flowers in the month of May.

1904 G. A. B. Dewar Glamour of Earth i. 21 This is the road where the greater stitchwort so abounds.

2006 Times 7 June 64/1 The sparkling white flowers of greater stitchwort, with their notched petals.

Derivatives

ˈgreaterness n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > surpassing excellence > [noun]

pricea1275

sovereigntyc1340

primacyc1384

sublimityc1429

vassalagec1430

precellence?a1439

pre-excellencec1450

pre-eminencec1460

superexcellencec1475

chief1519

pre-eminency1523

greaterness1540

precellency1557

superexcellency?1563

divinenessa1586

superancya1586

sublimenessa1599

pre-excellency1603

especialness1614

transcendencea1616

transcendency1615

transcendentness1625

top1627

antecellency1657

quality1665

transcendingness1730

transcendentalism1841

surpassingness1879

transcendentality1881

1540 T. Wyatt Let. to Henry VIII 3 Feb. in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) VIII. v. 241 In the originall it hathe no suche relation to lessernes or gretternes of parsones.

1635 A. Gil Sacred Philos. Holy Script. i. ii. 59 The working of God is infinite..for otherwise there should bee a greaternesse in being, and a lessenesse in working.

1683 W. Petty Observ. Dublin Bills Mortality in Several Ess. Polit. Arithm. (1755) 39 Whether the Cause of this Difference were Negligence in Accompts, or the Greaterness of the Families, &c. is worth inquiring.

c1705 G. Berkeley Commonplace Bk. in Wks. (1871) IV. 485 Why should we judge her [sc. the horizontal moon] to be greater? What connexion betwixt the same angle, further distant, and greaterness?

1868 A. Sandeman Pelicotetics iii. 188 This The Multiple Test of the greaterness and lessness of ratio is made the Definition in Euclid's Fifth Book.

1913 V. von Kubinyi Behind Curtain 105 It is easy to recognize greatness, but it takes grace to recognize greaterness.

1960 W. V. Quine Word & Object vi. 197 Various traits (such as greaterness than 4).

2001 W. C. Chittick tr. B. Afḍal in Heart of Islamic Philos. vi. 236 If a body is greater than another body in existence, this greaterness is from a state and thing other than the body.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	greater
释义	greateradj.adv.n. Brit. /ˈɡreɪtə/, U.S. /ˈɡreɪdər/ Forms: Old English grytra, Old English gryttra, early Middle English greattre, Middle English grater, Middle English gratter, Middle English grattur, Middle English greatere, Middle English greeter, Middle English greiter, Middle English gretere, Middle English grettere, Middle English grettir, Middle English grettor, Middle English grettore, Middle English grettoure, Middle English grettur, Middle English gretture, Middle English–1500s gretter, Middle English–1500s grettyr, Middle English–1600s greter, Middle English– greater, 1500s greatter, 1500s grytur; Scottish pre-1700 graitter, pre-1700 greitar, pre-1700 greitare, pre-1700 greiter, pre-1700 greittar, pre-1700 greittare, pre-1700 greitter, pre-1700 gretar, pre-1700 gretare, pre-1700 gretear, pre-1700 greter, pre-1700 grettar, pre-1700 grettare, pre-1700 gretter, pre-1700 grettyr, pre-1700 griter, pre-1700 grittar, pre-1700 grytar, pre-1700 gryter, pre-1700 grytter, pre-1700 grytur, pre-1700 1700s–1800s gritter, pre-1700 1700s– greater. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a word inherited from Germanic. Partly formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: great adj., -er suffix³. Etymology: Originally (in Old English) < the Germanic base of great adj. + the Germanic base of -er suffix³ (see note). In later use largely re-formed < great adj. + -er suffix³.Form history. The Old English (West Saxon) form grȳt(t)ra (for earlier grīetra ) shows i-mutation of the stem vowel caused by the Germanic comparative suffix -iz- (see discussion at -er suffix³, and compare A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §§658, 660). The corresponding (unattested) Anglian form grēt(t)ra underlies some of the Middle English forms, although a few, such as gratter* , probably show the reflex of an unmutated Old English form grēat(t)ra (compare discussion at great adj., n., adv., and int.). Many forms in Middle English and Older Scots have been re-formed on the positive, and hence show a long stem vowel. Development of senses.* Many of the compounds listed here have synonymous parallels in great adj. In sense A. 2 perhaps after classical Latin maior greater, older, elder (see major adj.). Many technical uses in sense A. II. are likewise modelled on earlier uses of classical Latin and post-classical Latin maior, and scientific Latin major: e.g. in anatomy (sense A. 4a) with greater hippocampus (quot. 1809) and greater psoas (quot. 2001) compare hippocampus major at hippocampus n. 3a and psoas major at psoas n. 1, and see also quot. 1615; in astronomy (sense A. 4b) with Greater Bear and Greater Dog compare Ursa Maior (see Ursa Major at Ursa n. 2) and Canis Maior (see Canis Major n. at Canis n. 1). A. adj. I. General senses. 1. a. The comparative of great adj. in various senses. (a) In senses corresponding to great adj. I., primarily relating to physical size.With quot. 1485 cf. sense A. 3. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > larger moreeOE greaterOE OE tr. Alexander's Let. to Aristotle (1995) §18. 236 Wæron hie wunderlicre micelnisse, wæron hie swa greate swa columnan ge eac sume uphyrran & gryttran. OE Ælfric Homily (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 552 Ele wyxt on treowum, eall swa win deð; ac þa elebeamas beoð maran on wæstme, and þa berian grytran. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 308 Eauer me is leoure. se ȝe don grettere werkes. ne Make ȝe nane Purses..ne blod binden of seolc Ach schapeð..chirche claðes. & poure menne hettren. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 286 Heo comen to-gadere; mid greatere heorte. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. liii. 1204 Þe emptes gaderen gretter burþenes þan here owne bodyes ben. c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 197 He hadde of gold wroght a ful curious pyn A loue knotte in the gretter ende ther was. 1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) i. iii–v. sig. aij^v Quene Igrayne waxid dayly gretter & gretter, so it befel..he asked hir..whos was the child within her body. 1568 T. Hacket tr. A. Thevet New Found Worlde lxix. f. cxi^v There is another fish,..much more greater than the Porpas. 1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. iii. 15 If it be a made Mast, that is greater than one Tree. 1789 T. Taylor tr. Proclus Philos. & Math. Comm. II. 181 That which is rectangular, is shewn to be greater than that which is non-rectangular. 1837 J. D. Carrick Laird of Logan 2nd Ser. 133 The twa sides of it [sc. a ladder] were so thin and shachly, in fack they looked nae gritter than a fishing wand. 1997 C. Frazier Cold Mountain (2000) 121 A catfish that looked longer than a singletree for an ox team, though much greater in girth. (b) In senses corresponding to great adj. II., primarily relating to quantity or degree. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [adjective] > more kind greaterc1540 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12479 Ȝe habbeoð iherd..wulc word heo sendeð us..wið grætere [c1300 Otho grettere] wræððe. c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) 82 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 495 In penance he was so wel yused & þeron ȝung ibroȝt Þat þo he was of grettere elde hit negreuede him riȝt noȝt. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 238 (MED) Þe more þet he is of grat stat..þe more heþ he [sc. the devil] þe gratter glednesse huanne he him may gyly. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 25 He hadde greet likynge to have gretter lordschipe. c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 419 Bi long exercise in her pety world, as in a scole to þe grettir world, þei myȝte be able aftirward to come into þe grettir world. a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 122 We beyre moch gretter charges yerely than done the Scottis. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 60^v Was neuer kyng..his knightes more louet Ne gretter of giftes to his goode men. 1584 A. Montgomerie in King James VI & I Ess. Art of Poesie sig. iiiij Can Candill lowe giue fyre a greater heit? 1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence* 193 The greater your reason is against it, the greater excellency in your obedience. 1662 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour (1669) verse 17. i. vii. §2 264/2 You may hear a greater noise and outis of joy in the Thiefs House than the honest Husbandmans. 1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. ii. viii. 267 Scarce any Man arriv'd at the Empire with a more sully'd Reputation, or a greater Repugnancy of the People. 1748 tr. P. Lozano True Relation Earthquake Lima i. 39 A French Toise, or Fathom, is about five Inches greater than the English. 1793 W. Buchanan Hist. Anc. Surname of Buchanan 8 The Danes..with a greater army and more resolute than ever, invaded Scotland a fourth time. 1830 W. Hazlitt Life Napoleon Buonaparte III. xxxiv. 114 If the reign of terror excited their fears and horror, the establishment of the Empire under Buonaparte seemed an even greater affront. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 16 The sound..appears to come from greater and greater distances. 1885 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1884–5 13 656 It is probably unsafe to subject annealed wrought iron to a prolonged static stress greater than about 40 per cent. of that which unannealed iron of the same kind can safely carry. 1903 R. Kipling Five Nations Ded. p. v Before a midnight breaks in storm, Or herded sea in wrath, Ye know what wavering gusts inform The greater tempest's path. 1935 T. Wolfe Of Time & River ii. vii. 91 The greater the number of the books he read, the greater the immense uncountable number of those which he could never read would seem to be. 1967 Bull. Entomol. Res. 57 422 Trees..with flat crowns and bole usually greater in height than depth of crown. 2002 T. Nairn Pariah ii. 22 ‘Transformism’ would go on to enjoy much greater success and longer life in Britain than it had done in Italy. (c) In senses corresponding to great adj. III.: having more significant effects, importance, distinction, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being better or superior > [adjective] bettereOE selerOE betc1175 greaterc1325 unmeeta1393 masculinec1425 above one's matchc1500 superior?c1550 uppera1586 precedent1598 supereminent1599 empyreal1641 prerogative1646 paramount1654 subalternating1671 racy1675 ranking1847 plus1860 the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > [adjective] > more famous or eminent greatera1616 c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 4794 (MED) Grettere [c1400 BL Add. grettor] oþ non nis Þan bi þe holde chirche of glastingbury. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ii. xvii. 80 For archangelis beþ aboue angels, as it is iseide in Zacaria, þere þe gretter angel seiþ to þe lasse: Go and teche þis childe. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11078 O wijf..was neuer born nan A gretter barn þan sant iohan. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1267 (MED) All þe Messedones..Makis þar mane..For maistris & mynistris menere & grettir. c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 46 (MED) It is a gostly medicyn and memory of raunsom, bi wilk we deserue greiter þingis. 1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Euensong f. vi^v And in thys trinitie, none is afore nor after other: none is greater nor lesse then other. 1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 75 We culd neuer wishe ane gryter benefit nor yat Christ Iesus our lord..suld sa giv him self haill for vs. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline ii. sig. E2^v Great Father Mars, and greater Ioue. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 63 Lesser then Macbeth, and greater . View more context for this quotation 1664 S. Pepys Diary 15 July (1971) V. 207 He says he is as great with the Chancellor, or greater, then ever in his life. 1705 R. Blackmore Eliza i. 12 Scarce greater Deeds by Satan's Arms were done. 1743 Hist., Geneal., & Classical Dict. II. at Lorrain (Charles of) I have kissed as handsome ladies, and of as great or greater families than you. 1798 C. Philpot Introd. Lit. Hist. 14th & 15th Cent. iii. ii. 272 England had greater men, but fewer who rose out of the ranks of mediocrity. 1837 E. Howard Old Commodore xxx. 252 Standing before her in all the independence—perhaps in the superiority—of an innately greater soul. 1872 R. Morris Freemasonry in Holy Land 459 Allah hoo achbar...This in plain English is: God is greater. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 25 Nov. 8/1 You never made a greater mistake in your life. 1941 B. Veiller Fun I've Had vi. 89 Barrymore was a very great Hamlet and Booth was a greater Hamlet, and greater than these two was Forbes-Robertson. 1973 New York 17 Sept. 78/2 A work of even greater rarity, Frederick Delius's A Village Romeo and Juliet, comes to the city this week. 2005 L. H. Kaufman Leaders Count i. 1 Tulip mania was a classic example of the ‘greater fool’ theory at work—the assumption that no matter how much an investor pays, there always will be a greater fool who will pay more. b. With the. That constitutes more than half, larger, more considerable in number or quantity, that is in the majority, as the greater part, †the greater sort, etc. for (also in) the greater part: = for (also in) the greatest part at greatest adj. 1b. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority the more partOE the best part ofOE (the) more parta1350 (the) most parta1350 (the) most part alla1350 (the) most party1372 for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387 the better part ofa1393 the mo?a1400 most forcea1400 substancea1413 corsec1420 generalty?c1430 the greater partc1430 three quartersc1470 generalityc1485 the most feck1488 corpse1533 most1553 nine-tenths?1556 better half1566 generality?1570 pluralityc1570 body1574 the great body (of)1588 flush1592 three fourths1600 best1601 heap1609 gross1625 lump1709 bulk1711 majority1714 nineteen in twenty1730 balance1747 sweighta1800 heft1816 chief1841 the force1842 thick end1847 c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 2213 Tow bed..that hast receyuyd two..Where is thyn grettere part awey I-gon? a1450–1500 ( Libel Eng. Policy (1926) l. 100 The wolle of Spayne hit cometh not to presse But if it be tosed and menged well Amonges Englysshe wolle the gretter delle. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 76 The gretter party of oure people ar slayne and distressed. 1551 W. Thomas tr. Livy Argument Apparaile of Women sig. Bviii There is no law, that serueth to euery mans profite: but this ought to be regarged, whether it bee commodiouse for the greatter part and generally. 1565 T. Stapleton tr. F. Staphylus Apologie f. 119^v The Ciuill Lutherans, and Melanchthonistes beare all the rule in Misnia, in the greater parte of Franconia, and at Norimberg. 1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis 42 The greater sort do agree that this word [sc. image] is distinguished from Likeness. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. iv. 3 b The greater part of us went a shoare to see the Ilande. a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 29 The greater part, the Horse in generall Are come with Cassius. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 399 The greater file of the subiect held the Duke to be wise. View more context for this quotation 1692 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 2) ii. 81 The Hexapods from which the greater sort of Beetles come. 1710 J. Swift Tale of Tub (ed. 5) Apol. sig. A7^v For the greater Part the Reflecter is entirely mistaken. 1729 W. Law Serious Call xix. 354 The much greater part of them, are not brought up so well..as in the present instance. 1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper II. 249 The characters in tragedy are, for much the greater part, out of common life. 1793 A. Young Trav. France II. xvi. 353 In some districts, the course is for two years; but in the greater part it is for more than three. 1829 W. S. Landor Wks. (1846) II. 210/1 The greater number of men..are disposed, on most occasions, rather to virtue than to vice. 1869 R. Williams tr. Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics v. 151 A justice produces equality in the same way as if, a line having been divided into two unequal segments, one were to take the excess of the greater segment.., and were to cut it off from the greater segment, and add it to the less. 1917 Wairarapa (N.Z.) Daily Times 13 Oct. 4 The deceased..took the greater portion of a box of ‘Rough on Rats’ and immediately became seriously ill. 1921 National Geographic Mag. Mar. 280/1 A narrow green belt..pursues the river through the Jordan Valley, which for the greater part is an arid waste. 1952 M. Kennedy Troy Chimneys 25 My father, for the greater part of the time, is still at Cambridge. 2001 S. O'Donovan-Polten Scales of Success vi. 145 Women continued to shoulder the greater share of responsibility for household maintenance and management. c. Modifying the name of a place, country, region, etc. (a) Modifying the name of a country or geographical region with colonies, dependencies, areas of control or influence, etc., signifying either the whole entity or the colonies, etc., in relation to the main territory. Formerly also: the larger of two regions or territories with the same name, the larger of two parts into which a region is divided (obsolete). ΚΠ a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. l. 1270 Perce costeieth enviroun Septemtrion and the grettere Inde And many a-nothir myhti regioun. c1450 Three Kings Cologne (BL Add.) l. 725 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1912) 129 66 To grettere Ynde scho garte hir message goo To purches the bones of kynge Iasper. 1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 216^v Sebastian Munster in his vniuersall Cosmographie in the fyfthe booke of the landes of the greater Asia..hath wrytten of the vyage of Magellanus. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xx. 134 Armenia the greater, nowe called Turcomania, and Armenia the lesser, which yet reserueth his name. 1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. xx. 76 Al that part of Italy (sur-named the greater Greece). 1616 T. Coryate Traveller for Eng. Wits 19 My whole perambulation of this Asia the greater. 1732 tr. Voltaire Hist. Charles XII iv. 151 Siberia, a large province of the Greater Tartary,..extends itself Eastward to the frontiers of the Chinese Empire. 1794 Brit. Critic Feb. 154 Pythagoras and Plato are known to have visited both Egypt and the Greater Asia. 1868 C. W. Dilke (title) Greater Britain: travels 1866–67. 1898 H. S. White tr. H. von Sybel Founding of German Empire by William I. VI. xxi. ii. 83 The present endeavors were in reality preparatory to a greater Prussia rather than to a united Germany. 1918 H. H. Powers Amer. among Nations 230 There must be no Greater Russia, and there must be a Greater Japan. That is the program of Japan. 1939 Ann. Reg. 1938 190 After the Anschluss with Austria, Czechoslovakia was surrounded on three sides by Greater Germany. 1996 J. Shea Macedonia & Greece x. 324 The immediate relevance of concepts of a Greater Serbia, a Greater Bulgaria, a Greater Albania and even a Greater Greece. (b) Modifying the name of a city with outlying boroughs, suburbs, etc., signifying either the whole entity or the areas outside the city proper. ΚΠ 1844 W. M. Thackeray in Punch 3 Aug. 61/1 That abominable suburb stretching away from Waterloo Bridge, and into the Greater London. 1882 Encycl. Brit. IV. 834/1 The London police district, or ‘Greater London’, is divided into two police jurisdictions, that of the metropolitan police,..and that of the City police. 1898 Appletons' Dict. N.Y. p. iii The present edition of this book is the first to deal with the territory of the ‘Greater New York’ as constituting one municipality. 1955 Times 2 Aug. 6/5 Motorists living in the Greater London area were on the roads early in the morning bound for the seaside or the country. 1958 Listener 21 Aug. 274/2 Apart from Greater London and Greater Birmingham all the conurbations were either increasing their population at a rate far lower than the nation as a whole or (in the case of Greater Manchester) were even losing population. 1981 M. A. McKean Environmental Protest & Citizen Politics in Japan 190 Most mayors who received praise from urban activists were reformist mayors in cities in and near the Greater Tokyo area. 2000 Heritage Feb. 32/1 Bramall Hall..is now part of Greater Manchester, but it resided in Cheshire for the best part of 500 years until local government reorganization in 1974. †2. Older, elder. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [adjective] > older than an age > older elderOE greater?a1425 large1788 ?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 178, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Knave-child Laxe as in fleschie places of ȝunge maiden childern and summe time lesse moiste as in soukinge knaue childern & in gretter maydens. ?c1450 (?a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 383 (MED) He þat is gratter of ȝow, loke þat he be made as ȝongar in sympilnes. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. xvii. 28 And Eliab his greater brother herde him talke with the men. 1693 J. Dryden tr. Homer Iliad vi. in Examen Poeticum 463 The two Ajaces have I often seen, And the wrong'd Husband of the Spartan Queen: With him his greater Brother. 1793 Brit. Critic Aug. 466 The greater children, who teach the younger to read..certain maxims of the Coran. †3. Pregnant. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [adjective] greatc1175 with childc1175 with childc1300 baggeda1400 bounda1400 pregnant?a1425 quicka1450 greaterc1480 heavyc1480 teeming1530 great-bellied1533 big1535 boundenc1540 impregnate1540 great-wombeda1550 young with child1566 gravid1598 pregnate1598 pagled1599 enceinte1602 child-great1605 conceived1637 big-bellieda1646 brooding1667 in the (also a) family way1688 in the (also that) way1741 undelivered1799 ensient1818 enwombeda1822 in a delicate condition1827 gestant1851 in pod1890 up the (also a) pole1918 in a particular condition1922 preg?1927 in the spud line1937 up the spout1937 preggy1938 up the stick1941 preggers1942 in pig1945 primigravid1949 preggo1951 in a certain condition1958 gestating1961 up the creek1961 in the (pudding) cluba1966 gravidated- c1480 (a1400) St. Theodora 550 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 114 Syne eftyre of tyme in processe hapnyt þat scho gretare wes, & hyr frendis sperit ȝarne, quha with hyr gat þat barne. II. In technical uses, opposed to lesser. 4. a. Anatomy. Forming names of parts of the body that are the larger of two related or neighbouring structures, or the larger division of a structure. Cf. great adj. 4b.greater omentum: see Compounds 2. ΚΠ ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 14 A concauitee in which is restreyned..þe beked additament of þe gretter focile in tyme of þe raisyng vp of þe arme. 1578 J. Banister Hist. Man iv. f. 58^v It is a short muscle, but thicke, and is ioyned to the greater Trochanter. 1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 795 The second muscle is called Serratus maior or the greater saw-muscle. 1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. iii. viii. 94 In othersome the fibers are more distant in the taile, as in the greater Saw-muscle arising from the bottome of the shoulder-blade. 1657 N. Culpeper & W. Rand tr. J. Riolan Sure Guide i. xxi. 17 The foremost is called the lesser Trochanter; the upermost [sic], on the side, the greater Trochanter. 1739 Philos. Trans. 1737–8 (Royal Soc.) 40 136 The upper external or greater Trochanter. 1793 J. Bell Anat. Bones, Muscles, & Joints 179 The..Greater Sigmoid Cavity, is for receiving the lower end of the humerus. 1809 C. Bell Anat. Human Body (U.S. ed.) III. iii. 54 The lesser hippocampus, or colliculus,..has the same relation to the fornix which the greater hippocampus has. 1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. v. 180 The deep concavity..called the greater ischiatic notch. 1918 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. (ed. 5) 1446 The pectoral branches being secured as they cross the interval and clavicular portions of the greater pectoral. 1972 J. T. Robinson Early Hominid Posture & Locomotion ii. 15 A strongly developed, deep greater sciatic notch is formed. 2001 R. Bendavid et al. Abdominal Wall Hernias v. 58/2 The greater psoas is thus well formed in the upper lumbar region. b. Astronomy. In the names of certain constellations and stars, as Greater Bear (= Great Bear n.), Greater Dog (= Canis Major n. at Canis n. 1; cf. dog n.¹ 7, Great Dog n. at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1e).Now largely superseded by great. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > constellation > [adjective] lesser1540 greater1556 asteristic1652 binary stars1802 constellatory1819 asterismal1840 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. viii. xxiii. 503 Þe signe Arthurus..is propirliche a sterre iset bihinde þe taile of þe signe þat hatte Vrsa Maior ‘þe more bere’.] 1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 263 The lesser Beare..the greater Beare. 1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) sig. QQ.v^v These Signes besyde do ryse Wyth Lion fierce: the Egle, Hare, and Dog of lesser syse, The former legges of greater Dog, and head of Hydra springs. 1612 F. Holyoake Riders Dict. (ed. 3) sig. Nn3/2 Antecanis,..a starre called the lesser dogge starre, so called because it riseth before the greater dogge starre. 1674 J. Moxon Tutor to Astron. & Geogr. (ed. 3) 209 Ursa Major, the Greater Bear. 1712 E. Wells Young Gentleman's Astron., Chronol., & Dialling vii. 89 The southern Constellations known to the Antients are the Whale, Eridanus, the Hare, orion, the greater Dog, the lesser Dog, [etc.]. 1837 Fraser's Mag. 16 409 The greater bear appears under the typhonian figure of a pig standing on his hind-legs. 1923 Times 1 Nov. 20/3 Procyon, the lesser Dog, called so in distinction to Sirius, the greater Dog. 2008 H. Lehman Lang. God in Prophecy (ed. 10) iv. 182 Next to Ursa Minor is Ursa Major, or the Greater Bear. c. In the names of plants and animals distinguished by their larger size from similar ones of the same name. Cf. great adj. 4a.See also Compounds 3.greater black-backed gull, moonwort, padloper, plantain, redpoll, reedmace, etc.: see the second element. ΚΠ 1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health 67 This water hath in a manner the same vertues, which the greater Plantaine possesseth. 1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian (new ed.) 20/1 The Pouder or dried Leavs of the Blue bottle, or Cornflower is given with good success..being taken in the Water of Plantane, Horstail, or the greater Comfry. 1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 339 The Greater Loon or Arsfoot, Colymbus major. 1764 G. Edwards Gleanings Nat. Hist. III. 326/1 (table) The round-crested Duck, the greater Dobchick, and the all-green Humming-bird. 1776–96 W. Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 745 Greater Knapweed. 1837 Lady’s Mag. & Museum May 319/1 The bellis major, commonly called the greater daisy, is a handsome wild annual flower that blooms in July and August. 1876 S. Smiles Life Sc. Naturalist xi. 213 A Greater Shrike or Butcher bird. 1890 Friends' Intelligencer & Jrnl. 20 Dec. 816/1 The velvety lemon spikes of the greater mullein. 1917 J. W. Henshaw Wild Flowers N. Amer. Mountains 342 The Greater Bladderwort is a very curious plant which grows in shallow pools and ponds, and has yellow flowers. 1955 W. R. B. Oliver N.Z. Birds (ed. 2) 604 Greater Extinct Eagle... The first discovered bones of this species were found in 1871. 1976 Proc. Royal Irish Acad. B. 76 325 There was a single patch of greater periwinkle Vinca major on the southern border of the sandpit. 1999 S. Jones Almost like Whale ii. 44 The glaucous gull is more subtle—as large as a greater black-backed, but as pale as a herring gull. 2003 Org. Gardening Sept. 12/2 I leave them until September to allow the field scabious and greater knapweed to flower into the early autumn. 5. Music. = major adj. 7. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [adjective] > major plain1445 perfecta1450 greater1597 major1653 sharp1694 1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke Annot. sig. ¶^v The greater halfe note is that distance which is betwixt fa and mi. 1655 Campion's Art of composing Musick in Parts in J. Playford Introd. Skill Musick ii. 10 A sixt beneath the Base is a third above, and if it be the lesser sixt, then is the third above the greater third. 1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony iv. 80 I would..call the greater Third (as the Greeks do) Ditone. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Diesis Enharmonical Diesis is the Difference between a greater, and lesser Semi-tone. 1776 J. Hawkins Gen. Hist. Music I. 75 The greater or sesquioctave tone, 9 to 8, and the lesser or sesquinonal tone, 10 to 9. 1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 317 Greater Sixth. 1887 R. Browning C. Avison in Parleyings iv The key Was..C..with the Greater Third. 1913 Musical Times 54 788/1 Joachim..would play the greater tone first and the lesser second. 1988 Jrnl. Musicol. 6 260 The greater semi-tone was in the neighborhood of three-fifths of a tone. B. adv. In a greater degree, to a greater extent; more greatly, more. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in or to a greater degree or extent moeOE moreOE furtherc1050 greaterc1230 furthermorea1300 heldera1400 largerlya1425 any more1533 farthera1535 furtherfortha1542 preferentially1864 worse1883 much more1912 c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 58 Heo schal beo greattre ibollen..ȝef ha setteð hire wordes..soðliche wið uten hihðe & hehschipe in a softe steuene. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xx. 28 For spiritus fortitudinis..shal do more þan mesure..And greue men gretter þan goode faith it wolde. 1496 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (de Worde) i. xlii. sig. dvii^v/1 Greter sodayne deth wyste I neuer than that men had than. 1656 A. Cowley Mistress (new ed.) 32 in Poems She being so high, and I so low, Her power by this does greater show. 1787 Authentic Copy Corr. in India VI. 175 The present hour is what they alone look to the advantage of, which they will not forego for greater certain prospects, if remote. 1852 Mrs. Gore Craigallen Castle xxv. 90/1 Sarah..became greater afraid that a shadow was hovering over the household which would soon settle down to midnight darkness. 1876 J. F. Cobb Heroes of Charity 155 The more that could be said by rote, the greater pleased were the parents. 1911 Evid. Joint Comm. Tuberculin Test (47th General Assembly, State of Illinois) II. 36/1 Would you say in the cow number thirty-five (35),..the presence of tuberculosis showed greater than the other two? 2011 P. J. Wojciechowski & W. E. Hurford in P. Slinger Princ. & Pract. Anesthesia for Thoracic Surg. viii. 123/1 Long-acting beta-2 agonists are prescribed..when rescue therapies..are used greater than two times per week. C. n. A person or thing of greater size, importance, eminence, etc., than another. a. With possessive. A person's superior in status, position, achievement, or (in early use) age. Also figurative. Now somewhat rare.Formerly also with unmarked plural (cf. quot. c1350). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [noun] > person of > specific superior un-i-makeOE betterOE higherOE greaterc1350 priora1425 overerc1443 superior?a1475 superordinate1816 c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) 186 (MED) Aske þy fader, and he shal telle þe, and þi gretter [L. majores], & hij shul saien to þe. a1400 Prov. Wisdom (Bodl.) l. 56 in Anglia (1927) 51 222 Love alwey þi bettyr And groche not aȝen þi gretter. 1482 Cronycles of Englond (Caxton) sig. q6 Kyng Edward his gretter & his fadre. 1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades i. 8 Your greaters and your grauers to, I known haue heretofore, Who haue my counsel ay obeyed. 1627 J. Carter Plaine Expos. Serm. in Mount 85 They come farre short, not onely of some of their compeeres and greaters especially, but of many very base creatures. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 172 Thou Sun, of this great World both Eye and Soule, Acknowledge him thy Greater . View more context for this quotation 1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 279 He..first Refus'd on me his Baptism to confer, As much his greater, and was hardly won. View more context for this quotation 1830 T. W. C. Edwards Eton Lat. Gram. (ed. 6) 261 Est it is adolescéntis the dúty of a young man reveréri to réverence majóres nátu his élders, or, his greáters by birth. 1919 H. G. Wright Life & Wks. Arthur Hall x. 88 Often enough, poor man though he may be, he has preferred Cecil to earls and their greaters. 2006 M. Rosenberg & M. Rosenberg Masks of Antony & Cleopatra 228 Once more we are with subordinates commenting on their greaters. b. Without possessive. Often with the: (a) (with singular or plural agreement) the greater one or ones; (b) (with singular agreement) that which is greater. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > of more importance greatera1425 big brother1860 the half of it1932 the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > condition of being more than another > (a) greater amount > that which is greater1542 a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Isa. xxxii. 5 He that is vnwijs, schal no more be clepid prince, and a gileful man schal not be clepid the grettere [a1382 E.V. a meir, L. major]. a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1976) i. 17 (MED) Aftir þe smale þey wiln ellys stelyn þe gretere. 1542 R. Record Ground of Artes (1575) 148 The greater of the twoo propounded numbers doth containe the lesser. 1582 Bible (Rheims) Matt. xxiii. 11 He that is the greater of you, shal be your seruiteur. a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 6 The greater scornes the lesser. View more context for this quotation a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 301 The Greater substracted from the Lesser, the Remain will be so much too short. 1735 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Syst. Nat. Philos. (ed. 3) I. i. xiii. 79 It would have had the same Quantity of Determination, but a greater of Motion. 1799 W. Burdon Exam. Merits & Tendency Pursuits Lit. I. 46 Our Author, with his minor and major powers of democracy.., with singular ingenuity..has included the greater in the lesser. 1845 J. R. McCulloch Treat. Taxation i. i. 55 Unless a method should be found of taking a greater from a less. 1852 C. Kingsley in Fraser's Mag. May 547/1 ‘But these Nitrian savages’—‘Are the perfect examples of monkers [1853 monkery], and you hate them; and therefore all greaters containing the less, you hate all less monastic monks.’ 1898 J. Morley in Westm. Gaz. 27 June 10/1 We mourn for one of the greater among the servants of mankind. 1952 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Aug. Suppl. p. xlvii The birth of the Little Magazine may also now be seen in retrospect as heralding the decline of the greater. 2011 C. Woodham tr. Bhāgavat Purana x, in God who Dances 288 Moreover, equals wed each other; that's how it should be. When greaters marry lessers, though, they live in misery. Compounds C1. Forming parasynthetic adjectives, as greater-sized, etc. Cf. great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1b, greatest adj., n., and adv. Compounds 1. ΚΠ 1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 101 Wilde lekes..greater heded then they were that I saw about Bon. 1597 F. Bacon Of Coulers Good & Euill (Arb.) v. 144 Men whose living lieth together in one Shire, are commonly counted greater landed then those whose livings are dispersed. 1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vii. 327 Wee should see flockes of flying Fishes..whose bignesse and length are like to Mackrels, but greater headed and shouldered. 1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum at Erica Scoparia altera The Flowers..stand three together at the Tops,..turning all one Way, being somewhat larger, and greater bellied, but of a deeper red Colour than the last. 1792 W. M. Moseley Ess. Archery v. 103 Large, as well as small ropes..proved of very great use, when applied to the military weapons, and the greater sized engines. 1838 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 334/2 The animal is greater boned, and of a larger size. 1841 Chartist Circular 27 Feb. 314/1 But the genius of his latent nobility developes, and..makes him a wiser, better, nobler, and a greater-minded shepherd than Rodger or Bauldy. 1889 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 1 Jan. 20/1 Merinos..will thrive where the greater sized mutton sheep will fail to earn a living. 1922 Graduate Mag. (University of Kansas) Jan. 15 There apparently was no need for a greater sized enclosure. 2006 A. Fraser Love & Louis XIV (2007) ii. vii. 130 The greater-souled Bossuet, now a bishop. C2. Greater Asianism n. (also with lower-case initial in the first element) now chiefly historical any of various doctrines and movements advocating the political unification of Asia or solidarity among Asian nations, esp. against the perceived threat of Western political and cultural domination; = Great Asianism n. ΚΠ 1933 Christian Leader (Boston) 9 Sept. 1126/1 Another [person] has advocated the Greater Asianism to emancipate the Asian races from the oppression of the imperialism of Europe and America. 1951 South China Sunday Post-Herald 29 July 22/6 There were ‘great difficulties’ in controlling them [sc. terrorist and military organizations] because they were..dedicated to anti-Communism, national defence or ‘Greater Asianism’. 2008 Japanese Jrnl. Polit. Sci. 9 243 A number of critics have debated over the reasons why Hirano, the most prominent Japanese leader of academic theoretical Marxism in the pre-World War II years ‘converted’ to Greater Asianism during the war. Greater and Lesser Litany n. see litany n. 1a. Greater Bairam n. see Bairam n. Greater Book of the Covenant n. see covenant n. 7d. † greater circle n. Geography Obsolete = great circle n. at circle n. 2a. ΚΠ 1639 E. Chilmead tr. R. Hues Learned Treat. Globes iii. ii. 141 (heading) Of the Circumference of the Earth, or of a Greater Circle. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Great The Equator, Meridian, Ecliptic, Vertical, &c. are great or greater Circles of the Sphere; and the Parallels, Tropicks, &c. lesser Circles. Greater Feria n. Roman Catholic Church (now historical) (before the second Vatican Council of 1962–5) a day of a liturgically important week that has its own distinctive office or commemoration, as Ash Wednesday, Monday in Rogation Week, etc. ΘΚΠ society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > [noun] > double, important double feast?c1225 Great Dayc1350 red-letter day1663 doublec1690 feria1763 Greater Feria1763 1763 Divine Office for Use of Laity II. 4 The following Ferias, called Greater Ferias, take place of all Simples, and there is only a Commemoration made of them at Mass, viz. the Ferias of Advent and of Lent, the Ember-Days, Tuesday in Rogation-Week. 1870 L. Shepherd tr. P. Guéranger Liturg. Year: Advent (ed. 2) I. 520 She interrupts the Greater Ferias in order to pay her tribute of honour to Thomas, the Apostle of Christ. 1906 E. H. Blair et al. Philippine Islands, 1493–1803 XXXIV. 354 The privilege granted by apostolic indult of reciting a votive office on certain days of the week or month cannot be made use of on these greater feriæ. 1965 Musical Times 106 923/2 (advt.) December 20th: Greater Feria (‘O Clavis David’). greater George n. see George n. 1b. greater infortune n. see infortune n. 2. greater nobility n. the members of the higher ranks of the aristocracy, nobility above the rank of baron or its equivalent, esp. in continental Europe. ΚΠ 1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Mm1^v/1 Garter [King at Arms] is the principall [herald]..whose office is..to marshall the solemnities of the funerals of all the greater nobility, as of Princes, Dukes, Marquises, Earles, Vicounts, and Barons. 1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor 344 Barons with the rest vpward wee call the Greater Nobilitie, the others beneath them the Lesse Nobilitie. 1720 S. Segar Titles of Honour Introd. xii To these Parliaments, so many Barons as would, (understand here all the greater Nobility) after Notice of the King's Purpose, came, and sat with him. 1772 Town & Country Mag. Oct. 595/1 There are seven sorts of esquires... Thirdly, The eldest sons of the youngest sons of barons, and others of the greater nobility. 1890 W. R. Morfill Russia viii. 187 Thus the greater nobility wished to concentrate all the power in their own hands, and the lesser nobility were not willing to agree to this. 1995 S. Clark State & Status vii. 240 As the greater nobility lost its territorial power [in France], it attended court more often than in earlier periods. greater omentum n. [after scientific Latin omentum maius (1792 or earlier)] the larger section of the omentum, connecting the stomach to the transverse colon and hanging down like a sheet in front of the jejunum and ileum; also called great omentum, gastrocolic omentum; cf. lesser omentum n. at lesser adj., adv., and n. Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1804 C. Bell Anat. Human Body IV. 35 They [sc. the appendices epiploicæ] are of the same texture and use with the greater omentum and right colic omentum. 1914 Cunningham's Text-bk. Anat. 1162 The greater omentum hangs down like an apron from the transverse colon, in front of the coils of the jejunum and ileum. 2003 U. Peter-Czichi tr. W. Kuehnel Color Atlas Cytol., Histol., & Microsc. Anat. (ed. 4) 338 During fetal development, the greater omentum is a continuous cellulous connective tissue membrane. greater sapphic n. see Sapphic n. 1 greater-than sign n. the symbol >, typically used in mathematical contexts to denote that the quantity on the left of the sign is larger than the quantity on the right of it; cf. less-than sign n. at less adj., adv., pron., n., and prep. Compounds.The signs < and > were invented by Thomas Harriot before 1621 (see Artis analytica praxis (1631) 10). ΚΠ 1885 J. Jackson Pract. Arithm. 40 (table) > read ‘is greater than’, sign of inequality.] 1953 Jrnl. Mech. & Physics Solids 1 222 The greater than sign requires the stress point to be on RA. 1985 Math. Mag. 58 151 We should decide whether the equality sign should be replaced by a greater than sign or a less than sign. 2009 D. Kirsanov Bk. Inkscape 370 Everything between the less-than sign (<) and the greater-than sign (>) is a tag. C3. In the names of plants and birds (see also sense A. 4c). greater celandine n. a yellow-flowered perennial plant, Chelidonium majus (family Papavaraceae), of western Eurasia, containing various toxic alkaloids, and considered to have medicinal properties. ΚΠ 1569 R. Androse tr. ‘Alessio’ 4th Bk. Secretes 55 Take the greene rootes of Celendine the greater, and braye them with Brimstone, and annoint therwith the place. 1605 J. Mosan tr. C. Wirsung Gen. Pract. Physick 3rd Index sig. Lll2 Scrophularia major, the greater Celandine, or the greater figwort. 1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 618 The greater Celandine is hot and dry in the third degree, and of a clensing facultie. 1732 tr. H. Boerhaave Elements Chymistry I. 22 If the greater Celandine be prick'd, you get a golden juice in which its virtue resides. 1802 A. F. M. Willich Domest. Encycl. IV. 377 Take a handful of the tops of rue, and a similar portion of the greater celandine. 1903 Cornhill Mag. Aug. 46 My favourite [garden weed] of all, the Greater Celandine, in Somerset called the Witches' Flower. 2008 A. Al-Achi Introd. Bot. Med. vi. 80 Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) is another herb with antispasmodic action. However, this herb is highly toxic to the liver. greater forkbeard n. (also greater forked beard) an elongated gadoid fish, Phycis blennioides (family Phycidae), having a barbel on the chin and distinctive pelvic fin rays reduced to long forked filaments, found in the north-east Atlantic and Mediterranean. ΚΠ 1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 158 The Lesser Hake..is known on the coast of Cornwall by the name of the greater forked beard. 1864 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands III. 125 Goatfish. The Greater Forkbeard, Phycis furcatus. 1962 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 14 41 The fisheries research vessel caught..eight Greater Forkbeards whilst trawling in Bantry Bay. 2016 Sunday Times (Nexis) 17 Jan. 10 Customers at Oscar's can expect a wide range of lesser-known fish such as bluemouth and Sweaty Betty (aka greater forkbeard). † greater maple n. Obsolete the sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus (sycamore n. 2). ΚΠ 1669 Philos. Trans. 1668 (Royal Soc.) 3 856 The Sycamore, which is the greater Maple (some call it the Plane). 1778 J. Abercrombie Universal Gardener & Botanist (at cited word) The Greater Maple is a stately tree, of free growth. 1873 R. Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 3) ii. iii. 458 The latter [sc. Acer Pseudo-platanus] is generally known under the names of the Sycamore, Greater Maple, and Mock-plane. 1907 Nature Notes Aug. 160 ‘Greater Maple’ is a more correct name for Acer Pseudo-platanus than is ‘Sycamore’, as the latter name belongs properly to an Oriental species of Ficus. 1921 Lumber & Veneer Consumer (Chicago) 30 June 13/3 The greater maple, sycamore or plane tree of Europe is extensively planted in both Europe and in America. It is a large tree with a spreading head. † greater plover n. Obsolete the common greenshank, Tringa nebularia.Cf. great plover n. (a) at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1g. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Tringa > tringa nebularia (greenshank) greater plover1678 greenshank1766 chevalier1885 1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 298 Greater Plover of Aldrovand: the Venetian Limosa of Gesner. 1828 J. Jennings Ornithologia 163 The Glottis..or Greater Plover, has the bill about two inches and a half long. 1863 H. G. Adams Our Feathered Families 133 The Green-legged Longshank (Glottis chloropus), also called the..Greater Plover, or Green-legged Horseman. greater spotted woodpecker n. = great spotted woodpecker n. at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1g. ΚΠ 1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 84 The greater spotted Wood-pecker or Hickwall; Picus varius major. 1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 587 Rayed W[oodpecker]. This is a little bigger than the greater spotted Woodpecker. 1840 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds III. 80 Greater spotted woodpecker..wood-pie, French-pie. 1991 Bird Watching June 63/3 Ayton Castle CBC plot had two greater spotted woodpeckers drumming. greater stitchwort n. a scrambling perennial plant, Stellaria holostea (family Caryophyllaceae), of woodland and other shaded habitats in Europe, with white flowers on long stems and narrow grass-like leaves. ΚΠ 1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 1325 The greater Stitchwort hath sundry round slender stalkes, rising from the roote, scarse able to sustain themselves. 1771 R. Warner Plantæ Woodfordienses 27 The greater Stitchwort... Under hedges, and on the sides of fields. 1863 Trans. Hawick Archaeol. Soc. 60/2 The Greater Stitchwort or All-bones, makes the woods gay with its large and delicate flowers in the month of May. 1904 G. A. B. Dewar Glamour of Earth i. 21 This is the road where the greater stitchwort so abounds. 2006 Times 7 June 64/1 The sparkling white flowers of greater stitchwort, with their notched petals. Derivatives ˈgreaterness n. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > surpassing excellence > [noun] pricea1275 sovereigntyc1340 primacyc1384 sublimityc1429 vassalagec1430 precellence?a1439 pre-excellencec1450 pre-eminencec1460 superexcellencec1475 chief1519 pre-eminency1523 greaterness1540 precellency1557 superexcellency?1563 divinenessa1586 superancya1586 sublimenessa1599 pre-excellency1603 especialness1614 transcendencea1616 transcendency1615 transcendentness1625 top1627 antecellency1657 quality1665 transcendingness1730 transcendentalism1841 surpassingness1879 transcendentality1881 1540 T. Wyatt Let. to Henry VIII 3 Feb. in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) VIII. v. 241 In the originall it hathe no suche relation to lessernes or gretternes of parsones. 1635 A. Gil Sacred Philos. Holy Script. i. ii. 59 The working of God is infinite..for otherwise there should bee a greaternesse in being, and a lessenesse in working. 1683 W. Petty Observ. Dublin Bills Mortality in Several Ess. Polit. Arithm. (1755) 39 Whether the Cause of this Difference were Negligence in Accompts, or the Greaterness of the Families, &c. is worth inquiring. c1705 G. Berkeley Commonplace Bk. in Wks. (1871) IV. 485 Why should we judge her [sc. the horizontal moon] to be greater? What connexion betwixt the same angle, further distant, and greaterness? 1868 A. Sandeman Pelicotetics iii. 188 This The Multiple Test of the greaterness and lessness of ratio is made the Definition in Euclid's Fifth Book. 1913 V. von Kubinyi Behind Curtain 105 It is easy to recognize greatness, but it takes grace to recognize greaterness. 1960 W. V. Quine Word & Object vi. 197 Various traits (such as greaterness than 4). 2001 W. C. Chittick tr. B. Afḍal in Heart of Islamic Philos. vi. 236 If a body is greater than another body in existence, this greaterness is from a state and thing other than the body. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.adv.n.OE
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