largeness

adjective, larg·er, larg·est.

1. of more than average size, quantity, degree, etc.; exceeding that which is common to a kind or class; big; great: a large house; a large number; in large measure; to a large extent.
2. on a great scale: a large producer of kitchen equipment.
3. of great scope or range; extensive; broad.
4. grand or pompous: a man given to large, bombastic talk.
5. (of a map, model, etc.) representing the features of the original with features of its own that are relatively large so that great detail may be shown.
6. famous; successful; important: He’s very large in financial circles.
7. Obsolete. generous; bountiful; lavish.
8. Obsolete.
   1. unrestrained in the use of language; gross; improper.
   2. unrestrained in behavior or manner; uninhibited.
9. Nautical. free(def 33).

noun

10. Music. the longest note in mensural notation.
11. Obsolete. generosity; bounty.

adverb

12. Nautical. with the wind free or abaft the beam so that all sails draw fully.

Idioms

13. at large,
    1. free from restraint or confinement; at liberty: The murderer is still at large.
    2. to a considerable extent; at length: to treat a subject at large.
    3. as a whole; in general: the country at large.
    4. Also at-large.representing the whole of a state, district, or body rather than one division or part of it: a delegate at large.
    5. Also at-large.having a general, as opposed to a specific, role in an organization or project: She’s the magazine’s editor-at-large.
14. in large, on a large scale; from a broad point of view: a problem seen in large.Also in the large.

adjective

1. having a relatively great size, quantity, extent, etc; big
2. of wide or broad scope, capacity, or range; comprehensivea large effect
3. having or showing great breadth of understandinga large heart
4. nautical (of the wind) blowing from a favourable direction
5. rare overblown; pretentious
6. generous
7. obsolete (of manners and speech) gross; rude

noun

8. at large
   1. (esp of a dangerous criminal or wild animal) free; not confined
   2. roaming freely, as in a foreign country
   3. as a whole; in general
   4. in full detail; exhaustively
   5. ambassador-at-large See ambassador (def. 4)
9. in large or in the large as a totality or on a broad scale

adverb

10. nautical with the wind blowing from a favourable direction
11. by and large
    1. (sentence modifier)generally; as a ruleby and large, the man is the breadwinner
    2. nauticaltowards and away from the wind
12. loom large to be very prominent or important

n.c.1300, from large + -ness. adj.c.1200, “bountiful, inclined to give or spend freely,” also, of areas, “great in expanse,” from Old French large “broad, wide; generous, bounteous,” from Latin largus “abundant, copious, plentiful; bountiful, liberal in giving,” of unknown origin. Main modern meanings “extensive; big in overall size” emerged 14c. An older sense of “liberated, free from restraining influence” is preserved in at large (late 14c.). Adjective phrase larger-than-life first attested 1937 (bigger than life is from 1640s). see at large; big (large) as life; by and large; cog in the (a large) wheel; in some (large) measure; loom large; writ large.