magnum (n.)

Latin for "great, large, big" (of size), "great, considerable" (of value), "strong, powerful" (of force); of persons, "elder, aged," also, figuratively, "great, mighty, grand, important," neuter singular of magnus, from suffixed form of PIE root *meg- "great."

From 1788 in English as "large wine-bottle," usually containing two quarts. As the name of a powerful type of handgun, registered 1935 by Smith & Wesson Inc., of Springfield, Massachusetts. Magnum opus "masterpiece, a person's greatest work," is literally "great work" (see opus).

Entries linking to magnum

opus (n.)

"a work, composition," especially a musical one, 1809, from Latin opus "a work, labor, exertion" (source of Italian opera, French oeuvre, Spanish obra), from Proto-Italic *opes- "work," from PIE root *op- "to work, produce in abundance." The plural, seldom used as such, is opera. Opus Dei, literally "the work of God," is a Catholic organization founded in Spain in 1928 to re-establish Christian ideals in society through examples of the lives of the members.

*meg-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "great."

It forms all or part of: acromegaly; Almagest; Charlemagne; maestro; magisterial; magistral; magistrate; Magna Carta; magnate; magnitude; magnum; magnanimity; magnanimous; magni-; Magnificat; magnificence; magnificent; magnify; magniloquence; magniloquent; Magnus; maharajah; maharishi; mahatma; Mahayana; Maia; majesty; major; major-domo; majority; majuscule; master; maxim; maximum; may (v.2) "to take part in May Day festivities;" May; mayor; mega-; megalo-; mickle; Mister; mistral; mistress; much; omega.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Armenian mets "great;" Sanskrit mahat- "great, mazah- "greatness;" Avestan mazant- "great;" Hittite mekkish "great, large;" Greek megas "great, large;" Latin magnus "great, large, much, abundant," major "greater," maximus "greatest;" Middle Irish mag, maignech "great, large;" Middle Welsh meith "long, great."

Trends of magnum

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

aquiline

As for aquilus, "The Romans derived this colour from aqua 'water', which [Etymologicum Magnum] reject because they cannot...

mercy

late 12c., "God's forgiveness of his creatures' offenses," from Old French mercit, merci (9c.) "reward, gift; kindness, grace, pity," from Latin mercedem (nominative merces) "reward, wages, pay, hire" (in Vulgar Latin "favor, pity;" in Medieval Latin "thanks; grace"), from merx (

breach

Old English bryce "a fracture, act of breaking," from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (source also of Old Frisian breke "a burst, crack, demolition (of a house)," Old Saxon bruki, Old High German bruh, Middle Dutch broke), a noun from *brekanan (source of Old English brecan "to shat

enough

c. 1300, from Old English genog "sufficient in quantity or number," from Proto-Germanic compound *ganog "sufficient" (source also of Old Saxon ginog, Old Frisian enoch, Dutch genoeg, Old High German ginuog, German genug, Old Norse gnogr, Gothic ganohs). First element is Old Engli

glitch

by 1953, said to have been in use in radio broadcast jargon since early 1940s, American English, possibly from Yiddish glitsh "a slip," from glitshn "to slip," from German glitschen, and related gleiten "to glide" (see glide (v.)). Perhaps directly from German. Apparently it bega

bizarre

"fantastical, odd, grotesque," 1640s, from French bizarre "odd, fantastic" (16c.), from Italian bizarro "irascible, tending to quick flashes of anger" (13c.), from bizza "fit of anger, quick flash of anger" (13c.). The sense in Italian evolved to "unpredictable, eccentric," then

sabotage

1907 (from 1903 as a French word in English), "malicious damaging or destruction of an employer's property by workmen," from French sabotage, from saboter "to sabotage, bungle," literally "walk noisily," from sabot "wooden shoe" (see sabaton). In English, "malicious mischief" wo

dismay

c. 1300, dismaien, "become or be alarmed, upset, or frightened; to confound, break down the courage of by danger or difficulty or fear of calamity, fill with despairing apprehension;" perhaps formed in Anglo-French or Middle English from dis-, here probably intensive (see dis-),

boondoggle

"wasteful expenditure," especially by the government under guise of public good, April 1935, American English; earlier it was a name for a kind of braided leather lanyard made by Boy Scouts and worn by them around the neck or hat. In this sense it is attested from 1930, and accor

picnic

1748 (in Chesterfield's "Letters"), but the thing itself apparently was rare before c. 1800 as an English institution [OED]; it originally meant "a fashionable social affair (not necessarily out of doors) in which every partaker contributed something to the general table;" from F

Share magnum

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/magnum

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/magnum">Etymology of magnum by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of magnum. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/magnum

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of magnum,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/magnum.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of magnum.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/magnum. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of magnum.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/magnum (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on November 02, 2018

Remove ads >

Trending words

1. teacher
2. autumn
3. empathy
4. philadelphia
5. research
6. vote
7. pan
8. deluge
9. humble
10. compassion

Dictionary entries near magnum

magniloquence

magniloquent

magnitude

magnitudinous

magnolia

magnum

Magnus

magpie

Magrib

maguey

Magus