Gree
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 One of a flight of steps. obsolete
""My grand-daughter doesn't like to be kept waitin' when the tea is ready, for it takes me time to crammle aboon the grees, for there be a many of 'em, and miss, I lack belly-timber sairly by the clock.""
- 2 Pre-eminence; victory or superiority in combat (hence also, the prize for winning a combat). Scotland, countable, uncountable
"bycause Sir Palomydes beganne fyrste, and never he wente nor rode oute of the fylde to repose hym, but ever he was doynge on horsebak othir on foote, and lengest durynge, Kynge Arthure and all the kynges gaff Sir Palomydes the honoure and the gre as for that day."
- 3 Pleasure, goodwill, satisfaction. archaic, uncountable
"Accept in gree, my lord, the words I spoke."
- 4 A stage in a process; a degree of rank or station. obsolete
"He is a shepherd great in gree."
- 5 A degree. obsolete
- 1 To agree. Nigeria, intransitive, obsolete
"Gob. […]how dooſt thou and thy Maſter agree, I haue brought him a preſent; how gree you now?"
Example
More examples""My grand-daughter doesn't like to be kept waitin' when the tea is ready, for it takes me time to crammle aboon the grees, for there be a many of 'em, and miss, I lack belly-timber sairly by the clock.""
Etymology
From Middle English gre, from Old French gré, from Latin gradum (“step”). Compare degree. Doublet of grade.
From (pre-reform) Scottish Gaelic gré, from Old Scottish Gaelic gray.
From Middle English gre, from Old French gré (“pleasure, goodwill”), from Latin gratum, a noun use of the neuter of gratus (“pleasing”).
From Middle English green (“to agree”), from Old French greer, from gré (hence Etymology 3).
Related phrases
More for "gree"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.