big

Where does the word "big" come from? It comes from Middle English bigge, and was adopted directly into English (1500s).

Big’s story begins in Middle English: bigge meant “strong, mighty.” First found in northern English texts meaning 'strong, stout, powerful'; possibly from Norse (compare Norwegian dialect bugge 'strong man'), but the OED rates this as only 'possible'. It reached English by 1500s as big. Gradually took over much of the ground of 'great' and 'large' to mean simply of great size. Today, big means of considerable size or importance.

1. Stage 1 · Middle English · 1300s bigge "strong, mighty", first found in northern English texts meaning 'strong, stout, powerful'; possibly from Norse (compare Norwegian dialect bugge 'strong man'), but the OED rates this as only 'possible'.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1500s big "large", gradually took over much of the ground of 'great' and 'large' to mean simply of great size.