Grandeur

How to spell grandeur

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce grandeur

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does grandeur mean?

1. nounImpressive splendour, magnificence, or dignified greatness.

Grandeur in a sentence

• The grandeur of the old opera house left every visitor speechless.

• Tourists travel for miles to admire the grandeur of the mountain range.

Where does grandeur come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English directly from French in the early 1500s, where grandeur simply meant 'greatness' or 'large size'. The French noun was built on the adjective grand, meaning 'great' or 'large', which itself descends from the Latin grandis, meaning 'full-grown, big, or great'. Over time the sense narrowed from plain bigness toward the idea of impressive magnificence and dignity, especially the splendour of palaces, scenery, and ceremony. The spelling preserves its French origin completely, which is exactly why it traps English writers: the ending is the French -eur rather than the English -our, -er, or -ure that the ear might expect. The same -eur suffix survives in other French borrowings such as 'hauteur' and 'liqueur', which can serve as a memory anchor.

How the word is built

• grand (great, large)
• -eur (French noun suffix forming abstract nouns)