gentle giant

English

Etymology

From gentle +‎ giant. First use appears c. 1807 in a translated work. See cite below.

Noun

gentle giant (plural gentle giants)

1. (idiomatic) A person or animal of a great size or strength, yet who is of a friendly nature and not aggressive or threatening.
   • 1807, Francisco de Moraes, Luis Hurtado, Anthony Munday, Palmerin of England [also ascribed to L. Hurtado, originally translated by A. Munday, corrected by Robert Southey], page 112:

     ... lest he be should be brought into the like state as was the gentle giant.