great house

noun

: the main house of an estate or plantation

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web There are two cottages, a great house for entertaining, and self-sufficient solar power and water services. Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 23 Mar. 2023 Director Denis Villeneuve's new adaptation of Frank Herbert's beloved 1965 sci-fi novel features an epic ensemble, but most closely tracks the coming-of-age protagonist Paul (Chalamet), the only son of the great house of Atreides, who built their fortune on the rainswept planet Caladan. Christian Holub, EW.com, 13 Oct. 2021 But while some of the great houses, among them the 17th-century Villa Carlotta, have been turned into public attractions, others remain idiosyncratic full-time dwellings. Nancy Hass Henry Bourne, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2023 To construct these great houses, archaeologists have estimated that the Chacoans would have needed wood from some 200,000 trees, and those 16-foot-long wooden beams must have been transported from mountain ranges as far as 70 miles (110 km) away. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 24 Feb. 2023 On the other hand, Amanda Lindroth of Lindroth Designs created an expansive living room inspired by some of her favorite great houses in Europe such as the loggia and winter garden of the Villa Brandolini, which is filled with palm trees, rattan, and wicker. Isiah Magsino, Town & Country, 24 Feb. 2023 The great house was sleeping, windows shut-eyed. Lauren Groff, The New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2021 Take, for example, research at Pueblo Bonito, a massive stone great house in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, where a community thrived from 828 to 1126 AD under the rule of ancestral Puebloan peoples. Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Feb. 2023 One of the key elements of any great house party is its guest list, which might explain why there’s no shortage of big name cameos in the new movie, House Party. Time, 13 Jan. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'great house.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1633, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of great house was in 1633

Dictionary Entries Near great house

Cite this Entry

“Great house.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/great%20house. Accessed 1 Jun. 2023.

More from Merriam-Webster on great house

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!