good

English Online Dictionary. What means good‎? What does good mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: go͝od:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡʊd/
  • (General American, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɡʊd/, [ɡʊ̈d], [ɡɪ̈d]
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɡʊd/, [ɡʊd], [ɡud]
  • (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ɡʉd/
• (African-American Vernacular) enPR: go͝o(d), IPA^(key): /ɡʊ(d)/
• Rhymes: -ʊd

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English good, from Old English gōd, from Proto-West Germanic *gōd, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to unite, be associated, suit”).

Cognate with Russian го́дный (gódnyj, “fit, well-suited, good for; (coll.) good”), год (god), "year", via "suitable time".

Related to gather and together, but not to god/God.

Eclipsed non-native Middle English bon, bone, boon, boun (“good”) borrowed from Old French bon (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”).

Alternative forms

• goode (obsolete)

Adjective

good (comparative better or (nonstandard, humorous) gooder, superlative best or (nonstandard, humorous) goodest)

1. (of people or animals)
   1. Acting in the interest of what is beneficial, ethical, or moral.
      • c. 1525, The Example of Euyll Tongues, page a3 rectoː
   2. Competent or talented.
      • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

        And Marsha says I am a good cook!

   3. Able to be depended on for the discharge of obligations incurred; of unimpaired credit; used with for.

   4. Well-behaved (especially of children or animals).

   5. (US) Satisfied or at ease; not requiring more.

   6. (colloquial, with with) Accepting of, OK with

   7. (archaic) Of high rank or birth.
2. (of capabilities)
   1. Useful for a particular purpose; functional.
      • 1526, Herballː

        Against cough and scarceness of breath caused of cold take the drink that it hath been sodden in with Liquorice[,] or that the powder hath been sodden in with dry figs[,] for the same the electuary called dyacalamentum is good[,] and it is made thus.
   2. Effective.
   3. (obsolete) Real; actual; serious.
3. (properties and qualities)
   1. (of food)
      1. Having a particularly pleasant taste.

      2. Being satisfying; meeting dietary requirements.

   2. Of food or other perishable products, still fit for use; not yet expired, stale, rotten, etc.

   3. Valid, of worth, capable of being honoured.

   4. True, valid, of explanatory strength.
   5. Right, proper, as it should be.
   6. Healthful.

   7. Pleasant; enjoyable.

   8. Favorable.
   9. Unblemished; honourable.

   10. Beneficial; worthwhile.

   11. Adequate; sufficient; not fallacious.
4. (colloquial, when with and) Very, extremely. See good and.

5. (colloquial) Ready.

6. Holy (especially when capitalized) .

7. (of quantities)
   1. Reasonable in amount.

   2. Large in amount or size.
   3. Full; entire; at least as much as.

Usage notes

• The comparative gooder and superlative goodest are nonstandard. In informal (often jocular) contexts, best may be inflected further and given the comparative bester and the superlative bestest; these forms are also nonstandard.

Synonyms

• (having positive attributes): not bad, all right, satisfactory, decent, see also Thesaurus:good
• (healthful): well
• (competent or talented): accomplished
• (acting in the interest of good; ethical): See Thesaurus:goodness

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “having positive attributes”): bad, poor
• (antonym(s) of “ethical”): bad, evil

Derived terms

Descendants

• Solombala English: гудъ (gud), гутъ (gut)

Translations

Interjection

good

1. That is good; an elliptical exclamation of satisfaction or commendation.

Translations

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English goode (“good, well”, adverb), from the adjective. Compare Dutch goed (“good, well”, adverb), German gut (“good, well”, adverb), Danish godt (“good, well”, adverb), Swedish gott (“good, well”, adverb), all from the adjective.

Adverb

good (comparative better, superlative best)

1. (informal) Well; satisfactorily or thoroughly.
   • 2007 April 19, Jimmy Wales, “Jimmy Wales on the User-Generated Generation”, Fresh Air, WHYY, Pennsylvania [1]

     The one thing that we can't do...is throw out the baby with the bathwater.... We know our process works pretty darn good and, uh, it’s really sparked this amazing phenomenon of this...high-quality website.

Usage notes

The Germanic cognates (listed at Etymology) illustrate a null morpheme difference from the colexified adjective that is fully standard in those languages, as it would likewise be in modern English too if not for a widespread prescriptive misapprehension. The idea that adverbs in English cannot or should not have a null morpheme difference from the colexified adjective is a widespread notion that bars good (adv) and bad (adv) from formal use even though they are ubiquitous in informal use. It also sometimes drives the misapprehenders to inject -ly hypercorrectively, whereas thusly is usually viewed as prescription run riot, a needless and undesirable replacement of thus.

Derived terms

• but good
• a good many

Etymology 3

Inherited from Middle English good, god, from Old English gōd (“a good thing, advantage, benefit, gift; good, goodness, welfare; virtue, ability, doughtiness; goods, property, wealth”), from Proto-Germanic *gōdą (“goods, belongings”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ-, *gʰodʰ- (“to unite, be associated, suit”). Compare German Gut (“item of merchandise; estate; property”).

Noun

good (countable and uncountable, plural goods)

1. (uncountable) The forces or behaviours that are the enemy of evil. Usually consists of helping others and general benevolence.

   Antonyms: bad, evil
2. (countable) A result that is positive in the view of the speaker.

   Antonym: bad

3. (uncountable) The abstract instantiation of goodness; that which possesses desirable qualities, promotes success, welfare, or happiness, is serviceable, fit, excellent, kind, benevolent, etc.
5. (countable, usually in the plural) An item of merchandise.

   Coordinate term: service

Derived terms

• (item of merchandise): capital goods, consumer goods

Translations

Etymology 4

Inherited from Middle English goden, godien, from Old English gōdian (“to improve, get better; make better; endow, enrich”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōdōn (“to make better, improve”), from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz (“good, favorable”).

Verb

good (third-person singular simple present goods, present participle gooding, simple past and past participle gooded) (now chiefly dialectal)

1. (intransitive, now) To thrive; fatten; prosper; improve.
2. (transitive) To make good; turn to good; improve.
3. (intransitive) To make improvements or repairs.
4. (intransitive) To benefit; gain.
5. (transitive) To do good to (someone); benefit; cause to improve or gain.
6. (transitive) To satisfy; indulge; gratify.
7. (reflexive) To flatter; congratulate oneself; anticipate.

Derived terms

• gooding

Etymology 5

From English dialectal, from Middle English *goden, of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish göda (“to fatten, fertilise, battle”), Danish gøde (“to fertilise, battle”), ultimately from the adjective. See above.

Verb

good (third-person singular simple present goods, present participle gooding, simple past and past participle gooded)

1. (transitive, now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) To furnish with dung; manure; fatten with manure; fertilise.
   • April 5 1628, Bishop Joseph Hall, The Blessings, Sins, and Judgments of God's Vineyard

     Nature was like itself , in it , in the world : God hath taken it in from the barren downs , and gooded it : his choice did not find , but make it thus

Etymology 6

Coined in reference to the phrase the only good nigger is a dead nigger, a popular saying among white supremacists.

Adjective

good (not comparable)

1. (Internet slang, offensive, ethnic slur) Of a black person, dead or killed.

Derived terms

• goodening

Further reading

• “good”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “good”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “good”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Chinese

Etymology

Romanisation of 嗗 (gut⁴, gut⁶, gut²), influenced by spelling of English good. Not related to English good semantically.

Pronunciation

Noun

good (Hong Kong Cantonese)

1. Nonstandard form of 嗗 (“sound of gulp”).

Verb

good

1. Nonstandard form of 嗗 (“to gulp”).

Dutch Low Saxon

Adjective

good

1. good

Limburgish

Alternative forms

• gott (Eupen)
• joot (Krefeld)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Dutch goet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʝoː˦d], [ʝoː˦t]

Adjective

good (comparative baeter, superlative bès, predicative superlative 't 't bès)

1. good

Inflection

Middle English

Alternative forms

• god, gode, goed, gude

Etymology

Inherited from Old English gōd, from Proto-West Germanic *gōd, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡoːd/
• Rhymes: -oːd

Adjective

good (plural and weak singular gode, comparative bettre, superlative best)

1. good (of good quality or behaviour)
2. good (morally right or righteous)
   • 14th c., Chaucer, General Prologue:

3. advantageous, wealthy, profitable, useful
4. large; of a great size or quantity
5. having a great degree or extent
6. (of food) tasting pleasant
   • 1381, Pegge Cook, Recipes, page 114, quoted in 1962, Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, page 1242:

   • c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55 [Early English Text Society, Original Series; 91], London: N. Trübner & Co. for the Early English Text Society, volume I, OCLC 374760, page 11:

Related terms

Descendants

• English: good, goode (obsolete)
  • Solombala English: гудъ (gud), гутъ (gut)
• Scots: guid
• Yola: gooude, gude, gayde

References

• “gọ̄d, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-17.