Factsheet
What does the word good mean?
There are 121 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word good, 16 of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
good has developed meanings and uses in subjects including
psychiatry (Old English) religion (Old English) medicine (Old English) Christianity (Old English) soil science (Old English) politics (Middle English) economics (Middle English) economics and commerce (Middle English) weather (Middle English) insurance (Middle English) finance (mid 1500s) philosophy (late 1500s) beer (late 1600s) distilling (late 1600s) malting (late 1600s)
How common is the word good?
About 800occurrences per million words in modern written English
See frequency
How is the word good pronounced?
British English
/ɡʊd/
guud
U.S. English
/ɡʊd/
guud
See pronunciation
Where does the word good come from?
Earliest known use
Old English
The earliest known use of the word good is in the Old English period (pre-1150).
It is also recorded as a verb from the Old English period (pre-1150).
good is a word inherited from Germanic.
See etymology
Nearby entries
- gony, n.c1565–
- -gony, comb. form
- gonyaulax, n.1902–
- gonydeal, adj.1874–
- gonys, n.1836–
- 1971–
- goo, n.1903–
- goo, v.1941–
- goober, n.1833–
- Goober-grabbler, n.1869–
- good, adj., n., adv., int.Old English–
- good, v.Old English–
- 1607–
- good-bad, adj.1852–
- good-behaved, adj.1822–
- good book, n.1740–
- good-bottomed, adj.1778–
- good-boy, adj.1804–
- good breeding, n.1603–
- good-brother, n.1487–
- good buddy, n.1956–
Browse more nearby entries
Etymology
Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary
To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.
View our subscription options
Personal account
- Access or purchase personal subscriptions
- Get our newsletter
- Save searches
- Set display preferences
Sign in Register
Institutional access
Sign in through your institution
Sign in with library card
Sign in with username / password
Recommend to your librarian
Institutional account management
Meaning & use
Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary
To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.
View our subscription options
Personal account
- Access or purchase personal subscriptions
- Get our newsletter
- Save searches
- Set display preferences
Sign in Register
Institutional access
Sign in through your institution
Sign in with library card
Sign in with username / password
Recommend to your librarian
Institutional account management
Pronunciation
Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary
To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.
View our subscription options
Personal account
- Access or purchase personal subscriptions
- Get our newsletter
- Save searches
- Set display preferences
Sign in Register
Institutional access
Sign in through your institution
Sign in with library card
Sign in with username / password
Recommend to your librarian
Institutional account management
Forms
Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary
To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.
View our subscription options
Personal account
- Access or purchase personal subscriptions
- Get our newsletter
- Save searches
- Set display preferences
Sign in Register
Institutional access
Sign in through your institution
Sign in with library card
Sign in with username / password
Recommend to your librarian
Institutional account management
Frequency
Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary
To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.
View our subscription options
Personal account
- Access or purchase personal subscriptions
- Get our newsletter
- Save searches
- Set display preferences
Sign in Register
Institutional access
Sign in through your institution
Sign in with library card
Sign in with username / password
Recommend to your librarian
Institutional account management
Compounds & derived words
Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary
To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.
View our subscription options
Personal account
- Access or purchase personal subscriptions
- Get our newsletter
- Save searches
- Set display preferences
Sign in Register
Institutional access
Sign in through your institution
Sign in with library card
Sign in with username / password
Recommend to your librarian
