Word Origin & History
big
c.1300, northern England dialect, "powerful, strong," of unknown origin, possibly from a Scand. source (cf. Norwegian dial. bugge "great man"). Meaning "of great size" is c.1386; that of "grown up" is attested from 1552. Sense of "important" is from 1577. Bigass (adj.) is 1940s military slang. Bigwig is from 1781, from the large wigs formerly worn by men of importance. Big band as a musical style is from 1926; Big Bang in astrophysics theory popularized (and possibly coined) by Brit. astronomer Fred Hoyle in a 1950 book. Slang big head "conceit" is first recorded 1850. Big business is 1905; big house "penitentiary" is U.S. underworld slang first attested 1915 (in London, "a workhouse," 1851). In financial journalism, big ticket items so called from 1956.
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