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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SIZE, n. [either contracted from assize, or from the L. scissus. I take it to be from the former, and from the sense of setting, as we apply the word to the assize of bread.]
1. Bulk; bigness; magnitude; extent of superficies. Size particularly expresses thickness; as the size of a tree or of a mast; the size of a ship or of a rock. A man may be tall, with little size of body.
2. A settled quantity of allowance. [contracted from assize.]
3. Figurative bulk; condition as to rank and character; as men of less size and quality. [Not much used.]
SIZE, v.t.
1. To adjust or arrange according to size or bulk.
2. To settle; to fix the standard of; as, to size weights and measures. [Now little used.]
3. To cover with size; to prepare with size.
4. To swell; to increase the bulk or.
5. Among Cornish miners, to separate the finer firm the coarser parts of a metal by sifting them through a wire sieve.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: (used in combination) sized; "the economy-size package"; "average-size house" n
1: the physical magnitude of something (how big it is); "a wolf is about the size of a large dog"
2: the property resulting from being one of a series of graduated measurements (as of clothing); "he wears a size 13 shoe"
3: any glutinous material used to fill pores in surfaces or to stiffen fabrics; "size gives body to a fabric" [syn: size, sizing]
4: the actual state of affairs; "that's the size of the situation"; "she hates me, that's about the size of it" [syn: size, size of it]
5: a large magnitude; "he blanched when he saw the size of the bill"; "the only city of any size in that area" v
1: cover or stiffen or glaze a porous material with size or sizing (a glutinous substance)
2: sort according to size
3: make to a size; bring to a suitable size

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English sise assize, from Anglo-French, short for assise — more at assize Date: 13th century 1. dialect British assize 2a — usually used in plural 2. obsolete a fixed portion of food or drink 3. a. physical magnitude, extent, or bulk ; relative or proportionate dimensions b. relative aggregate amount or number c. considerable proportions ; bigness 4. one of a series of graduated measures especially of manufactured articles (as of clothing) conventionally identified by numbers or letters <a size seven hat> 5. character, quality, or status of a person or thing especially with reference to importance, relative merit, or correspondence to needs <try this idea on for size> 6. actual state of affairs <that's about the size of it> II. verb (sized; sizing) Date: 1609 transitive verb 1. to make a particular size ; bring to proper or suitable size 2. to arrange, grade, or classify according to size or bulk intransitive verb to equal in size or other particular characteristic ; compare — usually used with up and often with to or with III. adjective Date: 1848 sized — usually used in combination <bite-size pieces> IV. noun Etymology: Middle English sise Date: 15th century any of various glutinous materials (as preparations of glue, flour, varnish, or resins) used for filling the pores in surfaces (as of paper, textiles, leather, or plaster) or for applying color or metal leaf (as to book edges or covers) V. transitive verb (sized; sizing) Date: 1667 to cover, stiffen, or glaze with or as if with size

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 the relative bigness or extent of a thing, dimensions, magnitude (is of vast size; size matters less than quality). 2 each of the classes, usu. numbered, into which things otherwise similar, esp. garments, are divided according to size (is made in several sizes; takes size 7 in gloves; is three sizes too big). --v.tr. sort or group in sizes or according to size. Phrases and idioms: of a size having the same size. of some size fairly large. the size of as big as. the size of it colloq. a true account of the matter (that is the size of it). size-stick a shoemaker's measure for taking the length of a foot. size up 1 estimate the size of. 2 colloq. form a judgement of. what size? how big? Derivatives: sized adj. (also in comb.). sizer n. Etymology: ME f. OF sise f. assise ASSIZE, or f. ASSIZE 2. n. & v. --n. a gelatinous solution used in glazing paper, stiffening textiles, preparing plastered walls for decoration, etc. --v.tr. glaze or stiffen or treat with size. Etymology: ME, perh. = SIZE(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Size Size, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sized; p. pr. & vb. n. Sizing.] To cover with size; to prepare with size.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Size Size, n. [Abbrev. from assize. See Assize, and cf. Size glue.] 1. A settled quantity or allowance. See Assize. [Obs.] ``To scant my sizes.'' --Shak. 2. (Univ. of Cambridge, Eng.) An allowance of food and drink from the buttery, aside from the regular dinner at commons; -- corresponding to battel at Oxford. 3. Extent of superficies or volume; bulk; bigness; magnitude; as, the size of a tree or of a mast; the size of a ship or of a rock. 4. Figurative bulk; condition as to rank, ability, character, etc.; as, the office demands a man of larger size. Men of a less size and quality. --L'Estrange. The middling or lower size of people. --Swift. 5. A conventional relative measure of dimension, as for shoes, gloves, and other articles made up for sale. 6. An instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, -- used for ascertaining the size of pearls. --Knight. Size roll, a small piese of parchment added to a roll. Size stick, a measuring stick used by shoemakers for ascertaining the size of the foot. Syn: Dimension; bigness; largeness; greatness; magnitude.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Size Size, v. i. 1. To take greater size; to increase in size. Our desires give them fashion, and so, As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow. --Donne. 2. (Univ. of Cambridge, Eng.) To order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Size Size, n. [See Sice, and Sise.] Six.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Size Size, n. [OIt. sisa glue used by painters, shortened fr. assisa, fr. assidere, p. p. assiso, to make to sit, to seat, to place, L. assidere to sit down; ad + sidere to sit down, akin to sedere to sit. See Sit, v. i., and cf. Assize, Size bulk.] 1. A thin, weak glue used in various trades, as in painting, bookbinding, paper making, etc. 2. Any viscous substance, as gilder's varnish.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Size Size, v. t. 1. To fix the standard of. ``To size weights and measures.'' [R.] --Bacon. 2. To adjust or arrange according to size or bulk. Specifically: (a) (Mil.) To take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature. (b) (Mining) To sift, as pieces of ore or metal, in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts. 3. To swell; to increase the bulk of. --Beau. & Fl. 4. (Mech.) To bring or adjust anything exactly to a required dimension, as by cutting. To size up, to estimate or ascertain the character and ability of. See 4th Size, 4. [Slang, U.S.] We had to size up our fellow legislators. --The Century.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Assize As*size", n. [OE. assise, asise, OF. assise, F. assises, assembly of judges, the decree pronounced by them, tax, impost, fr. assis, assise, p. p. of asseoir, fr. L. assid?re to sit by; ad + sed[=e]re to sit. See Sit, Size, and cf. Excise, Assess.] 1. An assembly of knights and other substantial men, with a bailiff or justice, in a certain place and at a certain time, for public business. [Obs.] 2. (Law) (a) A special kind of jury or inquest. (b) A kind of writ or real action. (c) A verdict or finding of a jury upon such writ. (d) A statute or ordinance in general. Specifically: (1) A statute regulating the weight, measure, and proportions of ingredients and the price of articles sold in the market; as, the assize of bread and other provisions; (2) A statute fixing the standard of weights and measures. (e) Anything fixed or reduced to a certainty in point of time, number, quantity, quality, weight, measure, etc.; as, rent of assize. --Glanvill. --Spelman. --Cowell. --Blackstone. --Tomlins. --Burrill. Note: [This term is not now used in England in the sense of a writ or real action, and seldom of a jury of any kind, but in Scotch practice it is still technically applied to the jury in criminal cases. --Stephen. --Burrill. --Erskine.] (f) A court, the sitting or session of a court, for the trial of processes, whether civil or criminal, by a judge and jury. --Blackstone. --Wharton. --Encyc. Brit. (g) The periodical sessions of the judges of the superior courts in every county of England for the purpose of administering justice in the trial and determination of civil and criminal cases; -- usually in the plural. --Brande. --Wharton. --Craig. --Burrill. (h) The time or place of holding the court of assize; -- generally in the plural, assizes. 3. Measure; dimension; size. [In this sense now corrupted into size.] An hundred cubits high by just assize. --Spenser. [Formerly written, as in French, assise.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sizes, sizing, sized) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. The size of something is how big or small it is. Something's size is determined by comparing it to other things, counting it, or measuring it. Scientists have found the bones of a hoofed grazing animal about the size of a small horse... In 1970 the average size of a French farm was 19 hectares... ...shelves containing books of various sizes. N-VAR: usu the N of n 2. The size of something is the fact that it is very large. He knows the size of the task... Jack walked around the hotel and was mesmerized by its sheer size. N-UNCOUNT: usu the N of n 3. A size is one of a series of graded measurements, especially for things such as clothes or shoes. My sister is the same height but only a size 12... I tried them on and they were the right size. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Bigness, greatness, magnitude, bulk, volume, dimensions, largeness. 2. Sizing, weak glue, glutinous substance.

Moby Thesaurus

adjust, albumen, amplitude, appraise, appreciate, area, assay, assess, assort, autopsy, batter, bigness, body, bolt, bonnyclabber, breadth, bulk, butter, calculate, calibrate, caliper, canvass, categorize, check, check a parameter, check out, check over, check up on, clabber, classify, collate, compute, cornstarch, cream, crown, curd, dial, dimension, dimensions, divide, dough, duodecimo, egg white, eighteenmo, enlarge, enormousness, estimate, evaluate, examine, expanse, extension, extent, fathom, folio, gauge, gaum, gel, gelatin, give an examination, glair, glop, glue, gluten, go over, goo, gook, goop, gradate, grade, graduate, greatness, group, gruel, gumbo, gunk, height, hugeness, immensity, imperial, inspect, jam, jell, jelly, judge, largeness, length, loblolly, look at, look over, magnitude, mass, match, measure, measurement, medium, mensurate, mete, meter, molasses, monitor, mucilage, mucus, observe, octavo, octodecimo, overhaul, overlook, pace, pap, pass over, pass under review, paste, peer at, peruse, plumb, pore over, porridge, postmortem, prize, probe, proportion, proportions, pudding, pulp, puree, putty, quantify, quantize, quarto, range, rank, rate, review, riddle, rob, royal, run over, scan, scope, screen, scrutinize, semifluid, semiliquid, separate, set an examination, sextodecimo, sieve, sift, sixteenmo, size up, sort, sort out, sound, soup, span, spread, starch, step, sticky mess, stretch, study, subordinate, super, survey, syrup, take a reading, take stock of, take the measure, treacle, triangulate, twelvemo, valuate, value, vastness, volume, weigh, weight, width