huge

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

English

Alternative forms

• hudge (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English huge, from Old French ahuge (“high, lofty, great, large, huge”), from a hoge (“at height”), from a (“at, to”) + hoge (“a hill, height”), from Frankish *haug, *houg (“height, hill”) or Old Norse haugr (“hill”); both from Proto-Germanic *haugaz (“hill, mound”), from Proto-Indo-European *kowkós (“hill, mound”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *kewk-. Akin to Old High German houg (“mound”) (compare related German Hügel (“hill”)), Old Norse haugr (“mound”), Lithuanian kaũkaras (“hill”), Old High German hōh (“high”) (whence German hoch), Old English hēah (“high”). More at high.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /hjuːd͡ʒ/, [çu̟ːd͡ʒ]
• (New York City, some other US dialects) IPA^(key): /juːdʒ/
• (Norfolk) IPA^(key): [hʊudʒ]
• Rhymes: -uːdʒ

Adjective

huge (comparative huger or more huge, superlative hugest or most huge)

1. Very large.

   Synonyms: great; see also Thesaurus:large
2. (informal) Very strong, powerful, or dedicated.

   Synonym: great

3. (informal) Very interesting, significant, or popular.

   Synonym: great

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “very large”): tiny, small, minuscule, midget, dwarf

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• e-hug, eugh, gehu

Middle English

Alternative forms

• heug, heuge, hoege, hoge, hogge, hogh, hoige, houge, hugge

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French ahuge, a form of ahoge, of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhiu̯d͡ʒ(ə)/, /ˈhud͡ʒ(ə)/

Adjective

huge

1. huge, large, enormous
2. great, severe, excessive, prominent
3. numerous, plentiful

Derived terms

• hugely
• hugenesse

Descendants

• English: huge
• Scots: huge, hudge

References

• “hūǧe, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-03.

Adverb

huge

1. hugely, greatly

References

• “hūǧe, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-03.

Middle French

Noun

huge f (plural huges)

1. market stall