different between great vs monumental

English

Etymology

From Middle English greet (“great, large”), from Old English gr?at (“big, thick, coarse, massive”), from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?rewd-, *g?er- (“to rub, grind, remove”). Cognate with Scots great (“coarse in grain or texture, thick, great”), West Frisian grut (“large, great”), Dutch groot (“large, stour”), German groß (“large”), Old English gr?ot (“earth, sand, grit”). Related to grit.

Pronunciation

• enPR: gr?t, IPA^(key): /??e?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t
• Homophone: grate

Adjective

great (comparative greater, superlative greatest)

1. Relatively large in scale, size, extent, number (i.e. having many parts or members) or duration (i.e. relatively long); very big.
2. Of larger size or more importance than others of its kind.

   • So the King made Daniel a great man […]
3. (qualifying nouns of family relationship) Involving more generations than the qualified word implies — as many extra generations as repetitions of the word great (from 1510s). [see Derived terms]

4. (obsolete, postpositive, followed by 'with') Pregnant; large with young; full of.

   • the ewes great with young

5. (obsolete, except with 'friend' and similar words such as 'mate','buddy') Intimate; familiar.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Followers and Friends

     those that are so great with him

6. Extreme or more than usual.

7. Of significant importance or consequence; important.

   • “We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”

8. (applied to actions, thoughts and feelings) Arising from or possessing idealism; admirable; superior; commanding; heroic; illustrious; eminent.

9. Impressive or striking.

10. Much in use; favoured.

11. (applied to persons) Endowed with extraordinary powers; of exceptional talents or achievements; uncommonly gifted; able to accomplish vast results; remarkable; strong; powerful; mighty; noble.

12. Title referring to an important leader.

13. Doing or exemplifying (a characteristic or pursuit) on a large scale; active or enthusiastic.

14. (often followed by 'at') Skilful or adroit.

15. (informal) Very good; excellent; wonderful; fantastic. [from 1848]
16. (informal, Britain) Intensifying a word or expression, used in mild oaths.

Usage notes

Moderating adverbs such as fairly, somewhat, etc. tend not to be used with great. Some intensifiers can be used with some senses of great; for example, a very great amount, a very great man, the party was really great, though not *the party was very great.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:large
• See also Thesaurus:excellent
• gr8, grt (Internet slang, text messaging)

Antonyms

• (very big, large scale): tiny
• (uncommonly gifted): mediocre, ordinary

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Welsh: grêt

Translations

Interjection

great

1. Expression of gladness and content about something.

   Great! Thanks for the wonderful work.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     I am in my new apartment! Great!

2. sarcastic inversion thereof.

   Oh, great! I just dumped all 500 sheets of the manuscript all over and now I have to put them back in order.

Translations

Noun

great (plural greats)

1. A person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim.

   Newton and Einstein are two of the greats of the history of science.

   • 2019, Daniel Taylor, Lionel Messi magic puts Barcelona in command of semi-final with Liverpool (in The Guardian, 1 May 2019)[3]

     Sadio Mané wasted a glorious chance in the first half and, late on, Mohamed Salah turned his shot against a post after a goal-line clearance had spun his way. That, in a nutshell, perhaps sums up the difference between Messi and the players on the next rung below – the ones who can be described as great footballers without necessarily being football greats.

2. (music) The main division in a pipe organ, usually the loudest division.
3. (in combinations such as "two-greats", "three-greats" etc.) An instance of the word "great" signifying an additional generation in phrases expressing family relationships.

   My three-greats grandmother.

Antonyms

• (person of major significance, accomplishment or acclaim): mediocre

Translations

Adverb

great (not comparable)

1. (informal) Very well (in a very satisfactory manner).

   Those mechanical colored pencils work great because they don't have to be sharpened.

Translations

Anagrams

• 'Gater, Gater, Greta, ergat-, grate, retag, targe, terga

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“big in size, coarse, coarse grained”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrew?- (“to fell, put down, fall in”). Cognate with Old Saxon gr?t (“large, thick, coarse, stour”), Old High German gr?z (“large, thick, coarse”), Old English grot (“particle”). More at groat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ræ???t/

Adjective

gr?at

1. great, massive
2. tall
3. thick; stout
4. coarse

Declension

Derived terms

• gr?atnes

Descendants

• Middle English: greet, grete
  • English: great
    • ? Welsh: grêt
  • Scots: great, greet, grete, greit

Scots

Alternative forms

• greet, grete, greit

Etymology

From Old English gr?at, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?r?t], [?r?t]
• (North Northern Scots) IPA^(key): [?rit]

Adjective

great (comparative greater, superlative greatest)

1. great
2. coarse (in grain or texture)
3. (of things) thick, bulky, roomy
4. (of people) big, stout
5. (of a river) swollen with rain, in flood
6. (of the sea) high, stormy
7. intimate, friendly

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin monument?lis, from Latin monumentum; equivalent to monument +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?nj??m?nt?l/

Adjective

monumental (comparative more monumental, superlative most monumental)

1. In the manner of a monument.
2. Large, grand and imposing.
3. Taking a great amount of time and effort to complete.

   a monumental task

4. (archaeology) Relating to monuments.

Derived terms

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin monument?lis, from Latin monumentum; equivalent to monument +? -al.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /mo.nu.m?n?tal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /mu.nu.m?n?tal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /mo.nu.men?tal/

Adjective

monumental (masculine and feminine plural monumentals)

1. monumental

Derived terms

• monumentalisme
• monumentalitat

Further reading

• “monumental” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “monumental” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “monumental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “monumental” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Etymology

From monument (“monument”) +? -al, from French monumental, from Late Latin monument?lis, from Latin monumentum (“reminder, monument”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /monum?nta?l/, [monum?n?t?æ??l]

Adjective

monumental

1. monumental (large, grand and imposing)

Inflection

Synonyms

• grandios
• storslået

References

• “monumental” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin monument?lis, from Latin monumentum; equivalent to monument +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?.ny.m??.tal/

Adjective

monumental (feminine singular monumentale, masculine plural monumentaux, feminine plural monumentales)

1. monumental

Derived terms

Further reading

• “monumental” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Etymology

From Late Latin monument?lis.

Adjective

monumental m or f (plural monumentais)

1. monumental

Derived terms

• monumentalidade

Further reading

• “monumental” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

German

Etymology

From Late Latin monument?lis, via French monumental.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /monum?n?ta?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l

Adjective

monumental (comparative monumentaler, superlative am monumentalsten)

1. monumental

Declension

Derived terms

• Monumentalbau

Further reading

• “monumental” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Late Latin monument?lis, via French monumental.

Adjective

monumental (neuter singular monumentalt, definite singular and plural monumentale)

1. monumental

Related terms

• monument

References

• “monumental” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Late Latin monument?lis, via French monumental.

Adjective

monumental (neuter singular monumentalt, definite singular and plural monumentale)

1. monumental

Related terms

• monument

References

• “monumental” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin monument?lis.

Adjective

monumental m or f (plural monumentais, comparable)

1. monumental

   Synonym: monumentoso

Derived terms

Related terms

• monumento

Further reading

• “monumental” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin monument?lis, from Latin monumentum; equivalent to monumento +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /monumen?tal/, [mo.nu.m?n??t?al]

Adjective

monumental (plural monumentales)

1. monumental

Derived terms

Related terms

• monumento

Further reading

• “monumental” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.