Size Meaning
/saɪz/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is.
nounA specific set of dimensions for a manufactured article, especially clothing.
Sentence Examples
Your book is double the size of mine.
Your room is twice the size of mine.
Remember to specify your size when ordering clothes.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of the house is over four thousand square feet, making it very large.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please check the ____ of the shoes before you buy them to ensure they fit.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1:
"[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, […]."
— 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
"men of a less size and quality**"
— 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
"the middle or lower size of people"
— 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman:
"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."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 560:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of the house is over four thousand square feet, making it very large.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please check the ____ of the shoes before you buy them to ensure they fit.