grandeur

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French grandeur, from Old French grandur, from grant (French grand), from Latin grandis (“grown up, great”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæn.djʊə/, /ˈɡɹæn.djɜː/
  • /æ/→[ɑ] with BATH-broadening
• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹan.d͡ʒə(ː)/, /ˈɡɹan.d͡ʒɔː/, /ˈɡɹan.d͡ʒɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæn.d͡ʒɚ/, /ˈɡɹæn.d͡ʒʊɚ/, /ˈɡɹæn.d(j)ʊɚ/, /ˈɡɹæn.d(j)ɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  • Homophone: grander (one pronunciation)
• Hyphenation: gran‧deur

Noun

grandeur (countable and uncountable, plural grandeurs)

1. The state of being grand or splendid; magnificence.

   Antonyms: humility, modesty

   • 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:

     I wrapp’d myself in grandeur then,
     And donn’d a visionary crown ——

   • 2020 August 26, Tim Dunn, “Great railway bores of our time!”, in Rail, page 44:

     So much of what followed from the drawing boards of others will have been designed with the demands, effort and grandeur of Primrose Hill [tunnel] in the back of their minds.

   • 2023 March 21, Pjotr Sauer, “Putin’s two-day charm offensive with Xi underlines who’s boss”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     In a tightly choreographed ceremony filled with imperial grandeur, Xi and Putin then walked towards each other and met in the middle, smiling as they shook hands.

2. Nobility (state of being noble).

   Synonym: majesty

3. (archaic, rare) Greatness; largeness; tallness; loftiness.

Related terms

• aggrandize
• delusion of grandeur
• folie de grandeur
• grand
• grandiose
• grandiosity

Translations

state of being grand or splendid; magnificence

• Bulgarian: вели́чие (bg) n (velíčie), великоле́пие (bg) n (velikolépie)
• Catalan: grandesa (ca) f
• Finnish: upeus (fi)
• French: splendeur (fr) f
• Georgian: დიდებულება (didebuleba), გრანდიოზულობა (grandiozuloba)
• Hindi: भव्यता (hi) f (bhavyatā)
• Irish: ardchéim f
• Latin: granditās f
• Macedonian: вели́чавост f (velíčavost), вели́чие n (velíčie), вели́чина f (velíčina)
• Portuguese: grandeza (pt) f
• Russian: вели́чие (ru) n (velíčije), великоле́пие (ru) n (velikolépije)
• Spanish: grandeza (es) f, grandez (es) f, grandiosidad (es) f, esplendor (es) m
• Swedish: storslagenhet (sv) c
• Udmurt: быдӟымлык (byddźymlyk), бадӟымлык (baddźymlyk)

nobility

• Bulgarian: зна́тност f (znátnost), благоро́дство (bg) n (blagoródstvo)
• Finnish: aateluus (fi)
• Georgian: კეთილშობილება (ḳetilšobileba)
• Hindi: कुलीनता f (kulīntā)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} ardnós m
• Macedonian: благо́родство (blagórodstvo)
• Malayalam: പ്രതാപം (ml) (pratāpaṁ), മഹത്വം (mahatvaṁ)
• Russian: зна́тность (ru) f (znátnostʹ), благоро́дство (ru) n (blagoródstvo)

greatness; largeness; tallness; loftiness

• Azerbaijani: böyüklük
• Bulgarian: вели́чественост (bg) f (velíčestvenost)
• Finnish: suuruus (fi)
• Hindi: महानता (hi) f (mahāntā), महान (hi) (mahān)
• Macedonian: вели́чие n (velíčie), величе́ственост f (veličéstvenost)
• Portuguese: grandeza (pt) f, grandor (pt) m (also archaic)
• Russian: вели́чие (ru) n (velíčije), вели́чественность (ru) f (velíčestvennostʹ)
• Spanish: grandura (es) f

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “grandeur”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French grandur. By surface analysis, grand +‎ -eur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁɑ̃.dœʁ/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Homophone: grandeurs

Noun

grandeur f (plural grandeurs)

1. size

   Near-synonym: taille

   grandeur nature ― full-size

2. (physics, mathematics) magnitude, quantity

   ordre de grandeur ― order of magnitude

3. (astronomy) magnitude
4. grandeur, greatness

   grandeur d'âme ― magnanimity

Derived terms

• folie des grandeurs
• Votre Grandeur

See also

• largeur
• hauteur

Further reading

• “grandeur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French grandur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʀã.døːʀ/

Noun

grandeur f (plural grandeurs)

1. size