# size

Pronunciation: US say "SYZ" /saɪz/; UK

## Noun

1. The physical dimensions or magnitude of a thing: how big or small it is.
   - Simple: How big or small something is.
   - _Engineers calculated the size of the support beams before construction began._
   - _The sheer size of the herd astonished the visitors at the reserve._
2. A specific set of standard dimensions for a manufactured item, especially clothing or footwear.
   - Simple: A standard set of measurements used for clothes, shoes, or other made things.
   - _The dress was beautiful, but the shop didn't stock her size._
   - _Manufacturers print the size on a small label inside the collar._
7. A thin, sticky glue or paste used to seal a surface such as paper, canvas, or plaster, or to fix wallpaper or gold leaf.
   - Simple: A thin glue put on a surface before painting, papering, or covering it with gold.
   - _Traditional painters seal raw linen with a coat of size._
   - _The size fills the canvas weave and stops paint from soaking through._

## Verb

3. To adjust something to a particular set of dimensions.
   - Simple: To change something so it becomes a certain size.
   - _The printer automatically sizes each image to fit the page._
   - _Good designers size the buttons on a touch screen so that a thumb can tap them easily._
4. To estimate the dimensions or magnitude of something by rough approximation. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To roughly estimate or guess how big something is.
   - _The contractor sized the job within minutes of arriving on site._
   - _Investors want founders who can size the opportunity honestly, without inflating the numbers to impress them._
5. To sort things into groups, or arrange them in order, according to how large they are.
   - Simple: To put things into groups or in order by how big they are.
   - _Machines at the packing house size the apples and send each grade down its own chute._
   - _Before the auction, the dealer sized the pearls and laid them out in graduated rows._
6. To grow larger; to increase in dimensions.
   - Simple: To grow and become bigger.
   - _The apples sized steadily through the warm, wet weeks of late summer._
   - _Growers thin the clusters so that the remaining fruit can size properly._
8. To apply glue or primer to a surface in preparation for painting.
   - Simple: To put glue or a similar coating on a surface to prepare it for painting.
   - _Artists size their canvases to keep oil paint from rotting the fibers._
   - _He sized the panel with two thin coats before laying down any color._

## Noun

9. A person's degree of rank, ability, or strength of character. *(dated)*
   - Simple: How high a person ranks in skill, importance, or character.
10. Formerly, an official regulation fixing a standard, such as the quantity or price of goods or the amount of a fee or tax. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In the past, an official rule that set how much of something there must be or what it should cost.
11. A court session held periodically to try civil or criminal cases. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A court meeting held at set times to settle legal cases.

## Verb

12. To order food or drink from the college buttery, and so to record the charge on the buttery book. *(obsolete, UK)*
   - Simple: To order food or drink from a college kitchen and have the cost added to your bill.
13. To cause something to swell or grow in bulk. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make something bigger or cause it to swell.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Ellipsis of chili size.
- (noun) In graph theory, the number of edges in a graph.
- (noun) The thickened crust that forms on the surface of coagulated blood.
- (noun) A measuring instrument of several perforated gauges riveted together at one end, used for gauging the size of pearls.
- (noun) Alternative form of sice.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–6, 9–13** — The root is Proto-Indo-European *sed-, which gave Latin assidēre (ad- "to, towards" + sedeō "sit"), then the Old French verb asseoir ("to sit down") and the noun assise ("assize"). A shortened form of assise became Middle English syse, sise ("regulation, control, limit"). In use since the 14th century, the word first referred to a "law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid."
**Meanings 7–8** — From Middle English syse, of unclear origin. It is related to Old Italian sisa ("a glue used by painters"), and is perhaps ultimately connected to size meaning "amount," or perhaps shortened from assisa, from assiso ("seated").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/size (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).