magnum

[mag-nuh m]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR magnum ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a large wine bottle having a capacity of two ordinary bottles or 1.5 liters (1.6 quarts).

a magnum cartridge or firearm.

adjective

(of a cartridge) equipped with a larger charge than other cartridges of the same size.

(of a firearm) using such a cartridge.

Informal. unusually great in power or size: a magnum spotlight; a magnum dosage.

Origin of magnum

1780–90; < Latin, neuter of magnus large; in reference to firearms, orig. used as a trademark by the Smith and Wesson Co.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for magnum

kettle, jar, pot, crate, packet, vessel, dish, storage, bowl, carton, jug, pail, utensil, vase, capsule, sack, pouch, box, tank, package

Examples from the Web for magnum

Contemporary Examples of magnum

Catalogue, published by Flammarion (2014), includes photographs from the Magnum Photos archives and text by Éric Hazan.
A History of Paris in 150 Photographs
Sarah Moroz
December 14, 2014
Magnum came into being as a cooperative only two years after the conclusion of World War II.
A History of Paris in 150 Photographs
Sarah Moroz
December 14, 2014
Magnum is an entrusted brand, with an irrefutably global reach.
A History of Paris in 150 Photographs
Sarah Moroz
December 14, 2014
Nagrani started out selling socks with designs ranging from a shirt on Magnum, P.I. to Winston Churchill.
The Hot Designer Who Hates Fashion: VK Nagrani Triumphs His Own Way
Tom Teodorczuk
December 1, 2014
But the raw believability of, say, Magnum photography has been done for.
The Magazine That Made—and Unmade—Politicians
Anthony Haden-Guest
November 2, 2014

Historical Examples of magnum

It is his magnum opus in literature, and exhibits wide and laborious research.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
But you must learn the dictation; the great book, the magnum opus, it is there.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
I'll give you a dinner at the Bertolini to-night, and you may have the magnum of any vintage you like.
The Lure of the Mask
Harold MacGrath
Say, Jack, how much brighter the world looks after a magnum!
The Lure of the Mask
Harold MacGrath
It has the punch of that .44 Magnum you're presently carrying.
Revolution
Dallas McCord Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for magnum

magnum

noun plural -nums

a wine bottle holding the equivalent of two normal bottles (approximately 52 fluid ounces)

Word Origin for magnum

C18: from Latin: a big thing, from magnus large

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for magnum

1788, "bottle containing two quarts of wine or spirits," from Latin magnum, neuter of magnus "great in size" (see magnate). Registered 1935 by Smith & Wesson Inc., of Springfield, Massachusetts, as the name of a powerful type of handgun.