3. Having higher rank or more dignity, size, or importance than other
persons or things of the same name; as, a grand lodge; a grand vizier;
a grand piano, etc.
4. Standing in the second or some more remote degree of parentage or
descent; -- generalIy used in composition; as, grandfather, grandson,
grandchild, etc.
What cause Mov'd our grand parents, in that happy state, Favor'd of
Heaven so highly, to fall off From their Creator.
Milton.
Grand action, a pianoforte action, used in grand pianos, in which
special devices are employed to obtain perfect action of the hammer in
striking and leaving the string. -- Grand Army of the Republic, an
organized voluntary association of men who served in the Union army or
navy during the civil war in the United States. The order has chapters,
called Posts, throughout the country. -- Grand cross. (a) The highest
rank of knighthood in the Order of the Bath. (b) A knight grand cross.
-- Grand cordon, the cordon or broad ribbon, identified with the
highest grade in certain honorary orders; hence, a person who holds
that grade. -- Grand days (Eng. Law), certain days in the terms which
are observed as holidays in the inns of court and chancery (Candlemas,
Ascension, St. John Baptist's, and All Saints' Days); called also Dies
non juridici. -- Grand duchess. (a) The wife or widow of a grand duke.
(b) A lady having the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. (c) In
Russia, a daughter of the Czar. -- Grand duke. (a) A sovereign duke,
inferior in rank to a king; as, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. (b) In
Russia, a son of the Czar. (c) (Zoˆl.) The European great horned owl or
eagle owl (Bubo maximas). -- Grand- guard, or Grandegarde, a piece of
plate armor used in tournaments as an extra protection for the left
shoulder and breast. -- Grand juror, a member of a grand jury. -- Grand
jury (Law), a jury of not less than twelve men, and not more than
twenty-three, whose duty it is, in private session, to examine into
accusations against persons charged with crime, and if they see just
cause, then to find bills of indictment against them, to be presented
to the court; -- called also grand inquest. -- Grand juryman, a grand
juror. -- Grand larceny. (Law) See under Larceny. -- Grand lodge, the
chief lodge, or governing body, among Freemasons and other secret
orders. -- Grand master. (a) The head of one of the military orders of
knighthood, as the Templars, Hospitallers, etc. (b) The head of the
order of Freemasons or of Good Templars, etc. -- Grand paunch, a
glutton or gourmand. [Obs.] Holland. -- Grand pensionary. See under
Pensionary. -- Grand piano (Mus.), a large piano, usually harp-shaped,
in which the wires or strings are generally triplicated, increasing the
power, and all the mechanism is introduced in the most effective
manner, regardless of the size of the instrument. -- Grand relief
(Sculp.), alto relievo. -- Grand Seignior. See under Seignior. -- Grand
stand, the principal stand, or erection for spectators, at a, race
course, etc. -- Grand vicar (Eccl.), a principal vicar; an
ecclesiastical delegate in France. -- Grand vizier. See under Vizier.
Syn. -- Magnificent; sublime; majestic; dignified; elevated; stately;
august; pompous; lofty; eralted; noble. -- Grand, Magnificent, Sublime.
Grand, in reference to objects of taste, is applied to that which
expands the mind by a sense of vastness and majesty; magnificent is
applied to anything which is imposing from its splendor; sublime
describes that which is awful and elevating. A cataract is grand; a
rich and varied landscape is magnificent; an overhanging precipice is
sublime. "Grandeur admits of degrees and modifications; but
magnificence is that which has already reached the highest degree of
superiority naturally belonging to the object in question." Crabb.
Gran"dam (?), n. [F. grande, fem. of grand + dame. See Grand, and
Dame.] An old woman; specifically, a grandmother. Shak.
Grand"aunt" (?), n. [Cf. F. grand'tante.] The aunt of one's father or
mother.
Grand"child" (?), n. A son's or daughter's child; a child in the second
degree of descent.
Grand"daugh"ter (?), n. The daughter of one's son or daughter.
Grand"-du"cal (?), a. Of or pertaining to a grand duke. H. James.
Gran*dee" (?), n. [Sp. grande. See Grand.] A man of elevated rank or
station; a nobleman. In Spain, a nobleman of the first rank, who may be
covered in the king's presence.
Gran*dee"ship, n. The rank or estate of a grandee; lordship. H.
Swinburne.
Gran"deur (?), n. [F., fr. grand. See Grand.] The state or quality of
being grand; vastness; greatness; splendor; magnificence; stateliness;
sublimity; dignity; elevation of thought or expression; nobility of
action.
Nor doth this grandeur and majestic show Of luxury . . . allure
mine eye.
Milton.
Syn. -- Sublimity; majesty; stateliness; augustness; loftiness. See
Sublimity.
Gran*dev"i*ty (?), n. [L. grandaevitas.] Great age; long life. [Obs.]
Glanvill.
Gran*de"vous (?), a. [L. grandaevus; grandig grand+ aevum lifetime,
age.] Of great age; aged; longlived. [R.] Bailey.
Grand"fa"ther (?), n. A father's or mother's father; an ancestor in the
next degree above the father or mother in lineal ascent.
Grandfather longlegs. (Zoˆl.) See Daddy longlegs.
Grand"fa"ther*ly, a. Like a grandfather in age or manner; kind;
benignant; indulgent.
He was a grandfatherly sort of personage.
Hawthorne.
Gran*dif"ic (?), a. [L. grandificus; grandis grand + facere to make.]
Making great. [R.] Bailey.
Gran*dil"o*quence (?), n. The use of lofty words or phrases; bombast;
-- usually in a bad sense.
The sin of grandiloquence or tall talking.
Thackeray,
Gran*dil"o*quent (?), a. [L. grandis grand + logui to speak.] Speaking
in a lofty style; pompous; bombastic.
Gran*dil"o*quous (?), a. [L. grandiloquus; grandis grand + loqui to
apeak.] Grandiloquent.
Gran"di*nous (?), a. [L. grandinosus, fr. qrando, grandinis, hail.]
Consisting of hail; abounding in hail. [R.] Bailey.
Gran"di*ose" (?), a. [F. grandiose, It. grandioso. See Grand.] 1.
Impressive or elevating in effect; imposing; splendid; striking; -- in
a good sense.
The tone of the parts was to be perpetually kept down in order not
to impair the grandiose effect of the whole.