Grānd, a.
a. [compar. GRANDER; superl. GRANDEST.] [Fr. grand, Pr. grant, gran, granda, Norm. Fr. grant, Sp. & It. grande, Lat. grandis.]
Sense 1. Of large size or extent; great; extensive; hence, relatively great; greatest; chief; principal; as, a grand mountain; a grand army; a grand mistake. “To unfold their grand commission.” Shak. “Satan, our grand foe.” Milton.
Sense 2. Great in size, and fine or imposing in appearance or impression; — said of persons illustrious, dignified, noble; as, a grand monarch; a grand lord; a grand general, — said of things majestic, splendid, magnificent, sublime; as, a grand view; a grand conception.
They are the highest models of expression, the unapproached masters of the grand style. M. Arnold.
Sense 3. Holding an elevated or advanced rank, as in years or station; — often forming compounds with the following word; as, a grandfather; a grand jury; a grand lodge; a grand vizier, and the like.
Grand days (Eng. Law), certain days in the terms which are solemnly kept in the inns of court and chancery.—Grand duke. (a.) A sovereign duke inferior in rank to a king. (b.) (Ornith.) The great horned-owl (Bubo maximus).—Grand juror, one of a grand jury.—Grand jury (Law), a jury of not less than twelve nor generally more than twenty-three, whose duty it is 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. Bouvier.—Grand piano-forte (Mus.), a peculiar species of the piano-forte, in which the wires or strings are generally triplicated, increasing the power.—Grand vizier, the chief member or head of the Turkish council of state.
Synonyms—Magnificent; sublime; majestic; dignified; elevated; stately; august; pompous; lofty; exalted; 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 any thing 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.