Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GREAT, a. [Sax. great; D. groot; G. gross; Norm. gres; It. grosso; Sp. grueso; Port. grosso; Fr. gros; Arm. groçz; and probably L. crassus. Great and gross are the same word dialectically varied in orthography. See Class Rd, No. 59, 22, 79.]

1. Large in bulk or dimensions; a term of comparison, denoting more magnitude or extension than something else, or beyond what is usual; as, a great body; a great house; a great farm.
2. Being of extended length or breadth; as, a great distance; a great lake.
3. Large in number; as, a great many; a great multitude.
4. Expressing a large, extensive or unusual degree of any thing; as, great fear; great love; great strength; great wealth; great power; great influence; great folly.
5. Long continued; as, a great while.
6. Important; weighty; as, a great argument; a great truth; a great event; a thing of no great consequence; it is no great matter.
7. Chief; principal; as, the great seal of England.
8. Chief; of vast power and excellence; supreme; illustrious; as, the great God; the great Creator.
9. Vast; extensive; wonderful; admirable. Great are thy works, Jehovah. Milton.
10. Possessing large or strong powers of mind; as, a great genius.
11. Having made extensive or unusual acquisitions of science or knowledge; as, a great philosopher or botanist; a great scholar.
12. Distinguished by rank, office or power; elevated; eminent; as, a great lord; the great men of the nation; the great Mogul; Alexander the great.
13. Dignified in aspect, mien or manner. Amidst the crowd she walks serenely great. Dryden.
14. Magnanimous; generous; of elevated sentiments; highminded. He has a great soul.
15. Rich; sumptuous; magnificent. He disdained not to appear at great tables. A great feast or entertainment.
16. Vast; sublime; as, a great conception or idea.
17. Dignified; noble. Nothing can be great which is not right. Rambler.
18. Swelling; proud; as, he was not disheartened by great looks.
19. Chief; principal; much traveled; as, a great road. The ocean is called the great highway of nations.
20. Pregnant; teeming; as, great with young.
21. Hard; difficult. It is no great matter to live in peace with meek people.
22. Familiar; intimate. [Vulgar.]
23. Distinguished by extraordinary events, or unusual importance. Jude 6.
24. Denoting a degree of consanguinity, in the ascending or descending line, as great grandfather, the father of a grandfather; great great grandfather, the father of a great grandfather, and so on indefinitely; and great grandson, great great grandson, &c.
25. Superior; preeminent; as, great chamberlain; great marshal. The sense of great is to be understood by the things it is intended to qualify. Great pain or wrath is violent pain or wrath; great love is ardent love; great peace is entire peace; a great name is extensive renown; a great evil or sin, is a sin of deep malignity, &c.