size

Etymology 1

Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be payed”, from Middle English syse, sise (“regulation, control, limit”), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (“assize”), from the verb asseoir (“to sit down”), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (“to, towards, at”) + sedeō (“sit; settle down”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-. Displaced native Old English miċelnes (literally “bigness”).

noun

1. (obsolete outside dialects) An assize.
   I know you would have women above the law, but it is all a lye; I heard his lordship say at size, that no one is above the law. 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 560
2. (obsolete) A regulation determining the amount of money paid in fees, taxes etc.
3. (obsolete) A fixed standard for the magnitude, quality, quantity etc. of goods, especially food and drink.
4. The dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is.
   Ashley: Look at the size of that ship! Kaidan: The Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel fleet. Joker: Well, size isn't everything. Ashley: Why so touchy, Joker? Joker: I'm just saying you need firepower, too. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1
   [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […]. 2013-07-20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
   The size of the building seemed to have increased since I was last there.
5. (obsolete) A regulation, piece of ordinance.
6. A specific set of dimensions for a manufactured article, especially clothing.
   I don't think we have the red one in your size.
7. (graph theory) A number of edges in a graph.
8. (figurative, dated) Degree of rank, ability, character, etc.
   the middle or lower size of people 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman
9. An instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, used for measuring the size of pearls
   1874, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary.

verb

1. (transitive) To adjust the size of; to make a certain size.
2. (transitive) To classify or arrange by size.
   1. (military) To take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature.
   2. (mining) To sift (pieces of ore or metal) in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts.
3. (transitive, colloquial) To approximate the dimensions, estimate the size of.
4. (intransitive) To take a greater size; to increase in size.
   after 1633 (first published), John Donne, Farewell to Love Our desires give them fashion, and so, / As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow.
5. (UK, Cambridge University, obsolete) To order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To swell; to increase the bulk of.

Etymology 2

From Middle English syse, of unclear origin; related to Old Italian sisa (“a glue used by painters”), perhaps ultimately related to size / syse (“amount”), or perhaps shortened from assisa, from assiso (“to make to sit, to seat, to place”)

noun

1. A thin, weak glue used as primer for paper or canvas intended to be painted upon.
2. Wallpaper paste.
3. The thickened crust on coagulated blood.
4. Any viscous substance, such as gilder's varnish.

verb

1. (transitive) To apply glue or other primer to a surface which is to be painted.

Etymology 3

noun

1. Alternative form of sice (“number six in dice games”)