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Glite Dictionary
great gross

great gross

9.9
A group of 1,728 items
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : gran docena
  • He ordered a great gross of pencils to supply the entire school.

Examples

  • Did you know that one great gross equals 1,728 items?

  • The factory produced a great gross of screws this month for export.

  • A great gross is the same as twelve gross, or 1,728 individual units.

  • The factory produced a great gross of toys last year.

  • A great gross consists of 1,728 items, which is useful for bulk purchasing.

  • The warehouse received a great gross of bottles, enough for a large production run.

  • When buying in bulk, a great gross is often more economical than smaller quantities.

Synonyms

dozen gross
vsgreat gross
9.9

A number equal to 1,728 or 12 times 144

has the same numeric value but is a different traditional name

Surface Forms

great gross singular
great grosses plural

Morphology

great + gross

Combining 'great' (very large) with 'gross' (a unit of 144) will lead a learner to infer that this refers to a larger-than-normal gross — i.e. some multiple of 144 — so there is a partial compositional cue. However, the specific sense 'twelve gross = 1,728' is a lexicalized, technical/archaic grouping that is not predictable from the adjectives alone, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would not reliably infer the exact quantity.

Etymology

The noun great gross comes from old shop counting: a gross was 144, a dozen dozens, and a great gross was twelve of those. So today great gross means 'twelve gross' or '1,728 items'.