grandeur

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French grandeur, from Old French grandur, from grant (French grand), from Latin grandis (“grown up, great”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæn.d͡ʒɚ/, /ˈɡɹæn.d͡ʒʊɚ/, /ˈɡɹæn.d(j)ʊɚ/, /ˈɡɹæn.d(j)ɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  • Homophone: grander (one pronunciation)

Noun

grandeur (countable and uncountable, plural grandeurs)

1. The state of being grand or splendid; magnificence.
   • 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:

     I wrapp’d myself in grandeur then,
     And donn’d a visionary crown ——

   • 2020 August 26, Tim Dunn, “Great railway bores of our time!”, in Rail, page 44:

     So much of what followed from the drawing boards of others will have been designed with the demands, effort and grandeur of Primrose Hill [tunnel] in the back of their minds.

   • 2023 March 21, Pjotr Sauer, “Putin’s two-day charm offensive with Xi underlines who’s boss”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     In a tightly choreographed ceremony filled with imperial grandeur, Xi and Putin then walked towards each other and met in the middle, smiling as they shook hands.

2. Nobility (state of being noble).
3. (archaic, rare) Greatness; largeness; tallness; loftiness.

Related terms

• delusion of grandeur
• folie de grandeur

 

Translations

state of being grand or splendid; magnificence

• Bulgarian: вели́чие (bg) n (velíčie), великоле́пие (bg) n (velikolépie)
• Catalan: grandesa f
• Finnish: upeus (fi)
• French: splendeur (fr) f
• Irish: ardchéim f
• Latin: granditās f
• Macedonian: вели́чавост f (velíčavost), вели́чие n (velíčie), вели́чина f (velíčina)
• Portuguese: grandeza (pt) f
• Russian: вели́чие (ru) n (velíčije), великоле́пие (ru) n (velikolépije)
• Spanish: grandeza (es) f
• Swedish: storslagenhet (sv) c

nobility

• Bulgarian: зна́тност f (znátnost), благоро́дство (bg) n (blagoródstvo)
• Finnish: aateluus (fi)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} ardnós m
• Macedonian: благо́родство (blagórodstvo)
• Malayalam: പ്രതാപം (ml) (pratāpaṁ), മഹത്വം (mahatvaṁ)
• Russian: зна́тность (ru) f (znátnostʹ), благоро́дство (ru) n (blagoródstvo)

greatness; largeness; tallness; loftiness

• Azerbaijani: böyüklük
• Bulgarian: вели́чественост (bg) f (velíčestvenost)
• Finnish: suuruus (fi)
• Macedonian: вели́чие n (velíčie), величе́ственост f (veličéstvenost)
• Portuguese: grandeza (pt) f, grandor (pt) m (also archaic)
• Russian: вели́чие (ru) n (velíčije), вели́чественность (ru) f (velíčestvennostʹ)

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “grandeur”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

French

Etymology

From Old French grandur, from grand +‎ -eur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁɑ̃.dœʁ/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Homophone: grandeurs

Noun

grandeur f (plural grandeurs)

1. size
2. (physics, mathematics) magnitude, quantity
3. (astronomy) magnitude
4. grandeur

Derived terms

• folie des grandeurs
• grandeur d’âme
• grandeur nature
• ordre de grandeur
• Votre Grandeur

See also

• taille
• largeur
• hauteur

Further reading

• “grandeur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French grandur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʀã.døːʀ/

Noun

grandeur f (plural grandeurs)

1. size