huge
adjUK /hjuːd͡ʒ/ · US /hjud͡ʒ/
Etymology From Middle English huge, from Old French ahuge (“high, lofty, great, large, huge”), of unknown origin. One theory derives it from an underlying Old French a hoge (“at height”), from a (“at, to”) + hoge (“a hill, height”), the latter from Frankish *haug or cognate 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-, whence also English high.
1
Very large.
- “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera,[…]the chlorotic squatters on huge yachts,[…]the neurotic victims of mental cirrhosis, the jewelled animals whose moral code is the code of the barnyard—!”1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century,[…].1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
1 more example
- [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
2
Informal Very strong, powerful, or dedicated.
- Both of my parents are huge supporters of animal rights.
3
Informal Very interesting, significant, or popular.
- The band's next album is going to be huge.
- In our league our coach is huge!