magnus

noun Latin.

1. the Great Year: a cycle of years, usually a thousand, that begins with a Golden Age, steadily deteriorates, and ends with a universal catastrophe, either a fire or a flood.

Scandinavian masc. proper name, popular with early kings, the first to use it was Magnus I, king of Norway and Denmark (d.1047), who evidently took it in emulation of Charlemagne (Latin Carolus Magnus) under the impression that magnus (Latin, literally “great;” see magnate) was a personal name.