Greatness

How to spell greatness

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce greatness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does greatness mean?

1. nounThe quality of being remarkable in ability, achievement, scale, or importance.

Greatness in a sentence

• The biography traces her rise to greatness in the world of science.

• True greatness in leadership shows during a crisis, not in calm times.

Where does greatness come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built on the native English adjective 'great', which descends from the Old English 'great', meaning 'thick, coarse, or massive' rather than the modern sense of 'eminent'. Over the medieval period the meaning shifted from physical bulk toward importance, distinction, and high quality, the sense that survives today. The abstract noun was formed by adding the Old English suffix '-ness', a productive ending that turns an adjective into the name of its quality, just as it does in 'kindness' and 'darkness'. The word therefore sits entirely within the Germanic core of English, with no borrowing from Latin or French involved. Because the spelling simply joins a familiar word to a familiar suffix, the 'eat' vowel cluster and the single 's' before '-ness' are the only points where writers occasionally hesitate.

How the word is built

• great (large, eminent)
• -ness (noun-forming suffix denoting a quality or state)