Meanings Jump to a sense… 1. large; big; great; major; serious 2. great; prominent; eminent; distinguished 3. -sized; as big as; the size of 4. university (abbreviation) 5. large (serving size); large option 6. long month (31 days) Usage patterns 〈 物もの 〉 大だい the size of ~ (suffix indicating dimension)
This wound is about the size of a palm.
〈 物もの 〉 を 大だい で to order/get the large size of ~
I ordered a large coffee.
大だい 〈 人ひと 〉 a great/eminent [type of person] (attached to an occupation or role noun)
He is a great writer who represents Japan.
〈 地ち 名めい 〉 大だい abbreviation for [place]'s university, attached to a place name
He graduated from Kyoto University.
Expressions· 18 お 大だい 事じ に take care of yourself; get well soon 大だい なり greater than · greater-than sign; right angle bracket 大だい のほう feces; excrement; number two 大だい を 成な す achieve greatness; achieve success Show 3 more Show fewer 大だい 事じ にする take good care of; treasure; cherish 声こえ を 大だい にする raise one's voice; emphasize; speak loudly about See all 18 in Explore →
Related words 大 simply means 'large' as a general size prefix, whereas 特大 marks a size explicitly beyond the standard large.
メガ and 大 can both modify nouns to mean 'big' or 'great', but 大 is a native Japanese prefix with broader, more neutral use, while メガ is a borrowed word used mainly for emphasis or scale in casual/advertising contexts.
Don't confuse with 大 is a bound prefix/suffix used inside compounds (大成功 , 手のひら大 ), while 大きい is the independent i-adjective meaning 'big' that can stand alone as a predicate.
大 and 太 look similar and are often mixed up by beginners, but 太い means 'thick' (referring to girth), not 'large' in scale like 大 .
Written the same as 大 (おお ), but 大 (だい ) is the reading used in Sino-Japanese compounds like 大学 or 大丈夫 , while 大 (おお ) attaches to native Japanese words like 大雨 or 大声 .
台 (だい ) refers to a stand or platform, whereas 大 (だい ) means 'big/great' and is unrelated in meaning despite sharing the だい reading.
Word family· 492 important; serious; crucial · valuable; precious; treasured · serious matter; major incident; crisis · great undertaking; great enterprise; great thing · safe; OK
biggest; greatest; largest; maximum
love; like very much; be very fond of
president (of a country) · boss; big man; buddy
expansion; extension · magnification; enlargement · escalation; spread
Show 25 more Show fewer huge; gigantic; enormous
cabinet minister; government minister
considerably; greatly; a lot
generally; mostly; roughly; about · general; rough; approximate · outline; gist; main points · in the first place; to begin with; from the start
university student; college student
very popular; hugely popular
serious; important; significant; grave
major earthquake disaster; great earthquake; highly destructive earthquake
great; grand; magnificent
women's college; women's university
earth; ground; solid earth; vast land
graduate school
bold; daring; audacious
hate; detest; strongly dislike
enlargement; increase; expansion
huge; vast; enormous; extensive · swelling; expansion; expand greatly
magnificent; grand; majestic; splendid
daikon radish · ham actor; wooden actor
vast; immense; extensive
vast; huge; immense; enormous · malva nut (Scaphium affine)
maximum; greatest possible · to the fullest; as much as possible
great; huge; enormous; serious
grand; lavish; large-scale; lively or thriving · powerful; vigorous; enthusiastic
metropolis; large city
carpenter
See all 492 in Explore →
Written forms 大だい Usage 100%
Standard kanji form for all senses.
ダイ Usage <1%
Etymology From Middle Chinese 大 (dɑiH). The kanji 大 depicts a person with outstretched arms, symbolizing 'big' or 'great'. The reading だい is the on'yomi.
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