big

big · adjective, adverb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰew-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*bugja-“swollen up, thick”
3. Northern Middle English · inherited frombig
4. English todaybig

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

big · verb²

1. Old Norse · derived frombyggja
2. Middle English · inherited frombiggen
3. English todaybig

From Middle English biggen, byggen, from Old Norse byggja, byggva (“to build, dwell in, inhabit”), a secondary form of Old Norse búa (“to dwell”), related to Old English būan (“to dwell”). Cognate with Danish bygge, Swedish bygga.

big · noun³

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*bewwuz“crop, barley”
2. Old Norse · derived frombygg“barley, probably Hordeum vulgare, common barley”
3. Middle English · inherited frombyge
4. English todaybig

From Middle English byge, from Old Norse bygg (“barley, probably Hordeum vulgare, common barley”), from Proto-Germanic *bewwuz (“crop, barley”). Cognate with Old English bēow (“barley”).

Words from the same roots