Size
nounThe overall dimensions, magnitude, or measured extent of something.
How to spell size
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce size
What does size mean?
- nounThe overall dimensions, magnitude, or measured extent of something.
- verbTo measure, sort, or assess something according to its dimensions or qualities.
Size in a sentence
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noun
The jacket was the wrong size, so she returned it.
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verb
The tailor will size each customer before cutting the cloth.
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noun
The size of the garden surprised the new owners.
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verb
Managers learn to quickly size up a candidate during interviews.
Where does size come from?
Language of origin: French
Size came into English in the 1300s from Old French sise, which was itself a clipped form of assise, meaning 'a sitting' or 'a settled assessment'. That older word traces back to the Latin verb assidere, 'to sit beside', built from ad ('to') and sedere ('to sit'), the same root that gives us 'sit' and 'sediment'. The original idea was a fixed amount or standard rate decided when officials sat in formal session, so an early sense of size was an agreed quantity or fixed portion. From that notion of a regulated measure the meaning broadened to the general dimensions or magnitude of anything. Its grander cousin assize, meaning a court session, kept the full spelling, while everyday size lost the opening syllable and settled on its short, simple form.
How the word is built
- size (single root; a shortened form of Old French assise: a settled assessment)
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