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greatestadj.n.adv. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: great adj., -est suffix. Etymology: < great adj. + -est suffix. Compare greater adj., adv., and n.Analysis of forms. The superlative is not attested in Old English. Forms with short stem vowel are (ultimately) by analogy with the comparative (see discussion at great adj., n., adv., and int.). Despite the chronology, the α. forms perhaps arose from the β. forms by syncopation of the vowel of the suffix and simplification of the resulting consonant cluster (although there is no evidence for an intermediate form with syncopation of the vowel but without simplification of the consonant cluster). The γ. forms either show secondary developments from the α. forms, or result from confusion between α. and β. types. Semantic parallel. With the sense development compare most adj., pron., n., and adv. A. adj. 1. a. The superlative of great adj. in various senses. the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [adjective] ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 54 Ouwer greste & ladlukest sunnen. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham (1902) 7 Of alle oþer sacremens Þes seuene beþ þe greste. c1400 (?c1384) J. Wyclif (1871) III. 398 One of þo grattest synnes of alle. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 134 The grettest clerkes been noght the wisest men. a1438 9 Sche gan to brewyn & was on of þe grettest brewers in þe town. a1475 J. Fortescue (Laud) (1885) 138 Whan any rysinge hath be made..the pouerest men þeroff haue be þe grettest causers and doers ther in. a1500 (a1400) (Adv.) (1810) l. 306 The grattes maysters yede hym beforne. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach iii. f. 146 The greatest nourisher is Womans milke. 1647 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal 267 Beccafico..one of the greatest rarities they [sc. the Italians] can put into a bisk or ollio. 1683 D. A. 40 The greatest swearers are commonly the greatest liars. 1722 O. Dykes 191 The greatest Women, either of Birth, Quality or Character. 1782 W. Marshall Minutes in (1787) II. 323 The greatest ‘sheep-show’ in the country. 1834 H. Taylor i. i. v The world knows nothing of its greatest men. 1839 F. Marryat II. 225 She's the greatest gal in the whole Union. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus xlix. 1 Greatest speaker of any born a Roman, Marcus Tullius. 1900 C. T. Brady (1905) v. xxi. 219 In scenes of this kind it is not the greatest brute that wins, but the greatest soul. a1916 ‘Saki’ (1930) 407 A William the Conqueror calendar..with a quotation of one of his greatest thoughts for every day in the year. 1938 K. Tynan 12 Feb. (1994) i. 3 They will be making the greatest mistake of their lives. 1976 P. Partner (1980) iv. 116 For humanistically trained men who did not come from the greatest families, the papal court was a more attractive option. 2010 L. R. Baker 84 Christmas morning was the greatest moment I can remember. the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > largest c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) 17 in C. Horstmann (1887) 220 Nou is þe se Occean grettest and mest al-so. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. ii. 893 The gretteste tree synkeþ nought in water þough it be heuy. 1526 Matt. xiii. 32 When it is growne it is the greatest amonge yerbes. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria ii. ii. f. 58 The greatest vessels..conueighed al theyr vytailes..to lande with theyr shippe boates. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta i. xx. 67 Birds faile in their flight, yea, those of the greatest wing, vpon the passage of so great a Gulph. 1657 J. Trapp xxxvi. 19 As the Rocks repel the greatest waves, so doth God his enemies. 1726 J. Swift I. i. vi. 111 Their greatest Gold Coin, about the bigness of a Spangle. 1823 I. Hill 178 The bright queen of night condescends to look into many springs and wells, but a few feet in diameter, and..causes the waters..to rise as high as in the greatest ocean. 1878 H. M. Stanley II. xii. 334 The wide wild land which, by means of the greatest river of Africa, we have pierced. 1904 Apr. 171/2 The greatest pole line ever built carried 250 wires. 1964 L. Trilling (ed. 2) iii. 39 The hamlet is..sheltered by great plane-trees. The greatest tree of all overhangs the primitive inn. 2011 A. Buchan ix. 131 I don't know what the weight of the ship was. It was rated as the greatest ship that had ever been built. c1330 (?a1300) (Auch.) (1973) l. 8797 Þe heþen..gun on of þe grest bataile Þat euer was smiten. 1340 (1866) 44 Huanne me..beggeþ be þe gratteste wyȝtes, oþer be þe gratteste mesures, and zelleþ by þe leste. a1450 (Faust.) (1883) l. 1962 In my greste nede. a1500 ( (1991) 129 I, a synfulle wrekche, have grestes cause to gife laud and prasing to God. 1504 (Electronic ed.) Parl. Jan. 1504 §26. m. 21 The grettest destruction of reed dere..is with nettes called deere hayes and bukstallys. ?1518 B. de Clereville (title) The Copye of the letter folowynge which specifyeth of ye greatest and meruelous visyoned batayle that euer was sene. 1540 (title) The Byble in Englyshe of the largest and greatest volume. 1556 tr. J. de Flores sig. C6 From the depest of the earth vnto the greatest height of the heauen. 1658 T. St. Serfe tr. M. de Marmet 41 He doth not believe that the vices of others can hurt him, or the greatest storm shake him. 1675 R. Gower tr. F. de Le Boë xxix. 225 Wherefore the greatest Pulse is wont to concur, beside one over-frequent, and in the beginning at least strong enough, together with troublesom Watchings, and an obstinate Thirst. 1677 M. Hale ii. 179 He hath under his greatest Misery the Lenitive of Hope. c1700 (?c1600) Proportions to be used in any Kind of Ship or Gally in (1994) 80 20/2 The length of the sweep of ye fashion piece or stern in the greatest breadth must take his proportion from the depth at that place. 1737 Feb. 68/1 Even Flamstead's correct Table being about 15 minutes erroneous at one Time of the Year; tho' it is right in October, when his greatest Difference comes to 16 Min. 2 Seconds. 1776 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. xix, in (1843) I. 142/2 Ethics at large may be defined, the art of directing men's actions to the production of the greatest possible quantity of happiness, on the part of those whose interest is in view. 1807 T. Young II. 173/2 A horizontal column turned in a lathe..must have its outline a cubical parabola, convex outwards, in order to support the greatest weight at its extremity. 1842 G. P. R. Pulman 48 Worm-fishing is followed with greatest success..during the season of mowing grass. 1895 Ld. Esher in 73 701/2 I have the greatest respect and admiration for American decisions. 1933 Nov. 284/1 (advt.) The greatest privation, wretchedness and tragic occurrences are experienced in the sex life. 1961 N. Juster i. 9 He regarded the process of seeking knowledge as the greatest waste of time of all. 2003 D. L. Scott (ed. 3) 295 Fixed income securities..subject investors to the greatest amount of purchasing power risk. the world > relative properties > quantity > degree or relative amount of a quality, action, etc. > degree or relative amount [phrase] > to a specific extent the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [adverb] > as a general rule a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 355 Þe grettest partie of þe craft hideþ þe craft. ?c1450 tr. (1906) 86 Amon was Seneschall of the king, and..gouerned also the grettest parti of the londe. a1475 J. Fortescue (Laud) (1885) 123 We haue rekened þe grettest parte off the kynges ordinarie charges. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1960) xi. i. l. 32 The grettast part of our warkis..Beyn endit now. 1528 W. Tyndale Pref. f. xi They for the grettest part of them hardened their hertes and persecuted the worde that was sente to save them. 1589 R. Lane in R. Hakluyt iii. 740 I did referre it to the greatest number of voyces, whether we should aduenture the spending of our whole victuall..or otherwise to retyre our selues backe againe. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta iv. xxxiii. 300 In many partes of the Indies, and I thinke in the greatest part, small cattell do not increase and profite well. 1638 T. Herbert (rev. ed.) 333 Iles for the greatest part namelesse and numberlesse. 1643 D. Digges iv. 137 It is beyond my skill to..determine, whether the slye and cunning setter or the stout thief can claim greatest share in the spoyle. a1656 Bp. J. Hall (1660) ii. 133 The greatest part of the Romish Doctors. 1712 R. Blackmore vi. 287 The greatest Portion of th' Arterial Blood. 1734 F. Clifton tr. Hippocrates Upon Epidemical Dis. in 58 In the greatest part it went off without a crisis. 1742 S. Johnson Deb. Senate Lillput in Apr. 176 Both Inn-holders and Soldiers, are for the greatest Part of this Rank and Temper. 1774 O. Goldsmith I. vi. 194 He died..aged threescore and five years, the greatest part of which he had spent in the intrigues and bustles of active employment. 1840 17 109 The Ilmen mountains consist for the greatest part of a rock of white felspar, black uniaxial mica, and nepheline. 1882 F. W. Farrar 9 The actors who absorbed the greatest part of popular favor were pantomimists. 1929 L. A. G. Strong 34 Miss Ursula..came in for the greatest share of attention. 1946 H. K. Banda Let. 14 June in (2005) Ser. B. IX. i. i. 28 They are entitled to both civil and political rights, because they are native-born Nyasalanders, for the greatest part. 1976 Ld. Home vii. 115 That this crisis was averted was in the greatest part due to the instinct for fair play and open government practised by the Tunku Abdul Rahman. 2003 Winter 17/1 ‘Dry slab’ avalanches..cause the greatest number of fatalities. the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [adjective] > older than an age > eldest 1535 1 Sam. xviii. 17 Saul sayde vnto Dauid: Beholde my greatest [Wyclif, more, A.V. elder] doughter Merob wyl I geue the to wyfe. B. n.the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [noun] > best thing or person ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 232 Þe poure widewe hwen ha wule hire hus clensin. ha gedereð al þe greste on an heap alre earest. & schuueð hit þenne ut. 1340 (1866) 140 Iesu crist..ous yeaue uorbisne..to bouȝe naȝt wyþoute more to þe gratteste, ac to þe leste [c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues not only to þe grettest but to þe lest]. a1375 (c1350) (1867) l. 1196 (MED) He slow six of þe grettes. c1475 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Taylor) in J. Robson (1842) 16 My nome is Syr Galrun..The grattus [c1440 Thornton gretteste, a1500 Douce grettest] of Galway, of greuys and of gillus. 1488 (c1478) Hary (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 133 Vii scor thai led of the gretast that thai fand Off ayris with thaim. 1508 (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii Al the gretest Of gomys that grip has. c1540 (?a1400) (2002) f. 18 The grettyst of Grise gremyt þerat. 1602 T. Dekker Ad Lect. sig. A4v It shall not be amisse..first to beholde this short Comedy of Errors, and where the greatest enter, to giue them in stead of a hisse, a gentle correction. 1634 T. Herbert 163 Mecha (neere which..is buried their greatest Mahumet). 1647 No. 118. 1117 His Majesty is now at this town, a place he desires..to reside in for a time, how long, God only knowes; for in this world the greatest are but Pilgrims. 1785 W. Cowper ii. 168 Since from the least The greatest oft originate. 1852 Ld. Tennyson 29 Our greatest yet with least pretence. 1889 M. Corelli III. 146 A few thousand years and the greatest are forgotten! 1946 1 104/1 ‘Duke's the greatest’ is certainly the easiest cliché tossed around swing circles. 1964 30 Nov. Joe Kapp and Willie Fleming swung in a jubilant jig, and Kapp hollered, ‘Baby, you're the greatest.’ 2002 T. Pinchuck et al. (ed. 3) 660 De La Rey was..one of the ‘bitter enders’, who only stopped fighting in 1902 with the greatest of reluctance. C. adv.the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > in the greatest degree or most c1400 (?c1390) (1940) l. 207 (MED) In his on honde he hade a holyn bobbe, Þat is grattest in grene when greuez ar bare. a1450 in S. A. Moore (1871) App. 142 The whiche brigge openly is knowen the grettest costlew werk..yn all the west part of Engelond. ?1518 sig. aiiijv She was one of the greatest borne women that was than there aboute. 1553 in J. Strype (1721) II. ii. xv. 369 Articles..gathered..by the greatest learned Men of the Bishops. a1602 W. Perkins (1604) ii. 210 No man, no not the greatest learned, but he hath knowledge in part. 1785 L. Asquith Let. in T. Jefferson (1953) VIII. 497 The Nations which is the greatest favourised. 1832 W. Martin 14 A man may be the greatest learned man on earth, and know all languages, and still ignorant of natural causes. 1868 J. Mason 15 There as they stand and..Hymn this new birth-night of their greatest born. 1902 E. M. Creak tr. É. Boutroux (end notes) p. viii He succeeded Vièta as the greatest reputed mathematician in France. 2005 R. Nidel vi. 325 Along with American jazz, Brazilian music is the greatest learned popular music of the twentieth century. Phrases Philosophy. the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > pragmatism > [noun] > utilitarianism 1725 F. Hutcheson iii. § 8. 164 That Action is best which accomplishes [1726 procures] the greatest Happiness for the greatest Numbers; and that worst, which in like manner occasions Misery. 1767 tr. C. di Beccaria Bonesana Introd. 2 A cool examiner of human nature,..who had only this end in view the greatest happiness of the greatest number. 1776 J. Bentham Pref. p. ii This fundamental axiom, it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong. 1852 W. Whewell Introd. p. ix Those which in ancient or modern times have asserted Pleasure, or Utility, or the Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number, to be the true end of human action. 1894 B. Kidd (1895) x. 290 ‘The greatest happiness of the greatest number’—long a prominent doctrine in English politics. 1920 2 167 The book..is an attempt to work out over a large sphere the principles of the law of reason, or national law, or the greatest happiness of the greatest number, or the rights of man, or whatever other name may be adopted from time to time. 2006 Feb. 34/1 The basic principle of utilitarianism is that the right thing to do is whatever will promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > pragmatism > [noun] > utilitarianism 1829 T. P. Thompson in July 262 Equality, meant equality in the safety of such rights as the rule of the greatest happiness assigned. 1834 July 11/1 Another track in which the principle of the greatest happiness is destined to be brilliantly diffused..is the conduct of men towards one another in their congregate capacity of nations. 1893 J. Bonar iii. i. 209 By the rule of the ‘Greatest Happiness’, Malthus has a strong position here. 1914 23 689 As between the utilitarians and the intuitionists, he is an intuitionist... He rejects the utilitarian principle of the greatest happiness. 2003 D. Boucher in R. Bellamy & A. Mason xvi. 196 Jeremy Bentham is, of course, the classic utilitarian... The principle of the greatest happiness has to be the guide to what is right and wrong. Compounds1604 ‘W. Terilo’ sig. B2v Then neither Wolfe nor Foxe, But that did feare the Hound: Nor greatest headed Oxe But to the yoake was bound. 1618 A. Munday tr. N. de Herberay iii. xiv. 145/2 Florestan (although he was one of the greatest-spirited men in the world) could not refraine from teares. 1640 J. Parkinson v. ciii. 697 The greatest leafed Salomons Seale. 1697 T. Houghton 4 I hope the Richest and Greatest monied Men will not be thought the fittest to consult of ways to encrease the Stock of Coin and Credit of the Kingdom. 1703 II. vi. 118 The Marquis of Worcester was generally reputed the greatest monied Man of the Kingdom. 1770 70 The excise, and many other branches of the public revenue are farmed out to a society of sixty men of the greatest monied interest in the kingdom. 1818 ‘W. H. Scott’ 306 For deepness of Cry, the largest, greatest mouthed..Hounds are recommended. 1869 H. E. H. Jerringham tr. T. Guiccioli I. xiii. 285 The greatest-minded woman of our day (Madame G. Sand). 1888 R. G. Ingersoll 11 One of the greatest brained and greatest hearted men produced upon this continent. 1923 C. C. Catt & N. R. Shuler xviii. 268 The untiring, intrepid, never discouraged, never defeated, greatest-souled woman of the suffrage movement. 2012 K. Kreh 160 Scientists..have come up with this neat little story of God's greatest sized creatures without one shred of evidence. C2. 1660 W. Leybourn tr. J. de Billy in (new ed.) 104 Divide both the Numerator, and the Denominator, by the greatest common divisor that you can think of. 1724 J. Ward i. iv. 28 Thus the greatest common Divisor brings the Fraction to the lowest Denominator. 1884 1 61 If they are not prime to each other, assume k equal to their greatest common divisor. 1937 A. A. Albert xi. 255 Every two quantities of a principal ideal ring have a greatest common divisor. 2006 A. Ash & R. Gross i. 7 The greatest common divisor of two positive integers..can be defined to be a positive number. the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > division > divisor or dividend > without remainder 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid f.189 If a number measure two numbers it shall also measure their greatest common measure. 1766 A. Birks & J. Birks 150 Then will be the last divisor the greatest common measure. 1806 C. Hutton (ed. 5) I. 190 To find the Greatest Common Measure of the Terms of a Fraction..Range the quantities according to the dimensions of some letters. 1972 M. Kline iv. 79 The process of finding the greatest common measure (divisor) of two numbers..is referred to today as the Euclidean algorithm. 2000 W.-S. Horng in V. J. Katz ii. 39 It seems that the structural relation between the greatest common measure and the least common multiple never entered Liu Hui's mind. 1943 C. G. Sampas in 7 Dec. 15/7 I think, with all my heart and all my mind, that is truly the greatest generation this nation ever had. The sacrifices its youth made shall live forever. 1998 T. Brokaw p. xxx I said, ‘I think this is the greatest generation any society has ever produced.’] 2000 15 May 62/3 The book and show are full of greatest-generation patriotism..but tempered with fever-dream memories. 2001 1 Oct. 42/1 When we say war and think war, we're invoking it in a grander more classic, Greatest Generation sense—that is, to occupy, subjugate, and, ultimately, reform. 2004 (Electronic ed.) 15 Jan. vi. 8 No one can stick a ‘greedy geriatrics’ label on the Greatest Generation without acknowledging that the Me Generation will be demanding far more than a free cup of Starbucks coffee. the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > pragmatism > [noun] > utilitarianism 1822 J. Bentham 8 Reasons derived from the principle known by the name of the principle of utility: more expressly say the greatest-happiness principle. 1834 T. P. Thompson (1842) III. 118 But these [ascetics] too, were pursuers of the Greatest-Happiness Principle..after a sort. 1861 J. S. Mill (1863) ii. 9 The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle. 1871 C. Darwin i. iii. 97 Philosophers of the derivative school of morals formerly assumed that the foundation of morality lay in a form of selfishness; but more recently in the ‘Greatest Happiness’ principle. 1991 May 41 The fundamental principle of utility, or the greatest happiness principle. 1958 14 July 5/3 (advt.) Johnny Mathis' greatest hits. 1973 Jan. 1377/2 His ‘Greatest Hits’..offers some definitive bossa nova stylings such as Desafinado. 1991 1 Mar. 67/2 This two-hour video greatest-hits tape of Barbara Walters interviews..is a feast of video junk food. Splicing together bits from 63 interviews. 2005 Feb. 107/3 The late Ray Charles is such an established part of the furniture, his influence so widely diffused for so long, that it takes more than a well-curated greatest hits to do justice to his extraordinary impact. 1905 6 86 The difference between the least upper and the greatest lower bound of the function on that interval. 1954 5 808 S is a partly ordered set in which xy serves as the greatest lower bound of x and y. 2012 D. Applebaum v. 67 The greatest lower bound is referred to as the infimum and shorted to inf. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  adj.n.adv.?c1225 |
