Bigger

How to spell bigger

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bigger

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bigger mean?

1. adjectiveOf greater size, extent, or importance than something else.

Bigger in a sentence

• They moved into a bigger house once the twins arrived.

• The new car has a bigger boot than the old one.

Where does bigger come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word 'big' first appears in English in the late 1300s, originally in northern and Scottish texts where it could mean 'strong', 'powerful', or 'of great size'. Its ultimate origin is genuinely uncertain; many scholars suspect a borrowing from a Scandinavian or Old Norse source related to words for a wealthy or powerful man, though no parent form has been pinned down with confidence. Over time the sense narrowed and settled on physical largeness, the meaning we use today. The comparative 'bigger' is formed by the ordinary English rule of adding -er, but because 'big' ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant, that final g is doubled, which is the spelling point most likely to trip a writer. The same doubling logic governs 'hotter', 'thinner', and 'sadder'.

How the word is built

• big (large)
• -g- (doubled consonant before suffix)
• -er (comparative suffix)