size

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See also: sizə and siže

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid”, from Middle English syse, sise (“regulation, control, limit”), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (“assize”), from the verb asseoir (“to sit down”), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (“to, towards, at”) +‎ sedeō (“sit; settle down”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-. Displaced native Old English miċelnes (literally “bigness”).

Noun

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size (countable and uncountable, plural sizes)

  1. The dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is. [from 15th c.]
    The size of the building seemed to have increased since I was last there.
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1:
      Ashley: Look at the size of that ship!
      Kaidan: The Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel fleet.
      Joker: Well, size isn't everything.
      Ashley: Why so touchy, Joker?
      Joker: I'm just saying you need firepower, too.
    • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].
  2. A specific set of dimensions for a manufactured article, especially clothing. [from 16th c.]
    I don't think we have the red one in your size.
  3. (graph theory) The number of edges in a graph. [from 20th c.]
  4. (figurative, dated) Degree of rank, ability, character, etc.
  5. An instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, used for measuring the size of pearls
  6. (US) Short for chili size (“hamburger served with chili con carne”).
  7. (obsolete outside dialects) An assize. [from 14th c.]
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 560:
      I know you would have women above the law, but it is all a lye; I heard his lordship say at size, that no one is above the law.
  8. (obsolete) A regulation, piece of ordinance. [15th c.]
  9. (obsolete) A regulation determining the amount of money paid in fees, taxes etc. [14th–18th c.]
  10. (obsolete) A fixed standard for the magnitude, quality, quantity etc. of goods, especially food and drink. [15th–17th c.]
Synonyms
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Hyponyms
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • → Cantonese: size (saai1 si2)
  • → Irish: saghas
  • → Japanese: サイズ (saizu)
  • → Korean: 사이즈 (saijeu)
  • → Malay: saiz
  • → Persian: سایز (sâyz)
  • → Urdu: سائز (sāiz)
Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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size (third-person singular simple present sizes, present participle sizing, simple past and past participle sized)

  1. (transitive) To adjust the size of; to make a certain size.
  2. (transitive) To classify or arrange by size.
    1. (military) To take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature.
    2. (mining) To sift (pieces of ore or metal) in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts.
  3. (transitive, colloquial) To approximate the dimensions, estimate the size of.
  4. (intransitive) To take a greater size; to increase in size.
    • after 1633 (first published), John Donne, Farewell to Love
      Our desires give them fashion, and so, / As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow.
  5. (UK, Cambridge University, obsolete) To order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To swell; to increase the bulk of.
Hyponyms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English syse,[1] of unclear origin;[2] related to Old Italian sisa (“a glue used by painters”),[3] perhaps ultimately related to size / syse (“amount”),[2][3] or perhaps shortened from assisa, from assiso (“to make to sit, to seat, to place”)

Noun

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size (countable and uncountable, plural sizes)

  2. A thin, weak glue used as primer for paper or canvas intended to be painted upon.
    • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 40:
      The beginning of a new episode of work for Bradly was an agitated niggling over six-by-four squares of cardboard coated with size and white lead, prepared by himself to save an experimental waste of canvas.
  3. Wallpaper paste.
  4. The thickened crust on coagulated blood.
  5. Any viscous substance, such as gilder's varnish.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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size (third-person singular simple present sizes, present participle sizing, simple past and past participle sized)

  1. (transitive) To apply glue or other primer to a surface which is to be painted.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “size”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “sīse, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “size”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Etymology 3

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Noun

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size (plural sizes)

  1. Alternative form of sice (“number six in dice games”)

See also

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Chinese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English size.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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size

  1. (Cantonese) size

Synonyms

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Turkish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /siˈzɛ/
    • (colloquial, quick speech) IPA(key): /sːɛ/

Pronoun

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size

  1. dative of siz (you – plural or polite)

Turkmen

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Noun

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size

  1. dative plural of siz
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