Hypertext Webster Gateway: "greatest"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Great \Great\, a. [Compar. {Greater}; superl. {Greatest}.] [OE.
gret, great, AS. gre['a]t; akin to OS. & LG. gr[=o]t, D.
groot, OHG. gr[=o]z, G. gross. Cf. {Groat} the coin.]
1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous;
expanded; -- opposed to small and little; as, a great
house, ship, farm, plain, distance, length.

2. Large in number; numerous; as, a great company, multitude,
series, etc.

3. Long continued; lengthened in duration; prolonged in time;
as, a great while; a great interval.

4. Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts,
actions, and feelings.

5. Endowed with extraordinary powers; uncommonly gifted; able
to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful; mighty;
noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher,
etc.

6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty: eminent;
distingushed; foremost; principal; as, great men; the
great seal; the great marshal, etc.

He doth object I am too great of birth. --Shak.

7. Entitled to earnest consideration; weighty; important; as,
a great argument, truth, or principle.

8. Pregnant; big (with young).

The ewes great with young. --Ps. lxxviii.
71.

9. More than ordinary in degree; very considerable in degree;
as, to use great caution; to be in great pain.

We have all Great cause to give great thanks.
--Shak.

10. (Genealogy) Older, younger, or more remote, by single
generation; -- often used before grand to indicate one
degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as,
great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's
father), great-grandson, etc.

{Great bear} (Astron.), the constellation Ursa Major.

{Great cattle} (Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and
yearlings. --Wharton.

{Great charter} (Eng. Hist.), Magna Charta.

{Great circle of a sphere}, a circle the plane of which
passes through the center of the sphere.

{Great circle sailing}, the process or art of conducting a
ship on a great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc
between two places.

{Great go}, the final examination for a degree at the
University of Oxford, England; -- called also {greats}.
--T. Hughes.

{Great guns}. (Naut.) See under Gun.

{The Great Lakes} the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on
the northern borders of the United States.

{Great master}. Same as {Grand master}, under {Grand}.

{Great organ} (Mus.), the largest and loudest of the three
parts of a grand organ (the others being the choir organ
and the swell, and sometimes the pedal organ or foot
keys), It is played upon by a separate keyboard, which has
the middle position.

{The great powers} (of Europe), in modern diplomacy, Great
Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy.

{Great primer}. See under {Type}.

{Great scale} (Mus.), the complete scale; -- employed to
designate the entire series of musical sounds from lowest
to highest.

{Great sea}, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black
and the Mediterranean seas are so called.

{Great seal}.
(a) The principal seal of a kingdom or state.
(b) In Great Britain, the lord chancellor (who is
custodian of this seal); also, his office.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

greatest
adj 1: not to be surpassed; "his top effort" [syn: {top}]
2: greatest in size of those under consideration [syn: {biggest},
{largest}]
3: greatest in importance or degree or significance or
achievement; "our greatest statesmen"; "the country's
leading poet"; "a preeminent archeologist" [syn: {leading(a)},
{preeminent}]
4: most of; "spoke for the greatest part of an hour"
5: highest in quality [syn: {sterling(a)}, {superlative}]


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