"Big Brother" meaning in All languages combined

See Big Brother on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: Big Brothers [plural], big brother [alternative]
Etymology: After the nominal leader of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by British writer and journalist George Orwell. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|big|brother}} [Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*brōþēr", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "Proto-West Germanic", "term" : "*brōþer", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "gmw-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "Old English", "term" : "brōþor", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "ang" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Middle English", "term" : "brother", "lang" : "enm" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "brother", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "Big Brother", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="Big Brother">, {{person|Q3335}} British writer and journalist George Orwell Head templates: {{en-noun|head=Big Brother}} Big Brother (plural Big Brothers)
  1. Unwarranted, invasive, and discreet surveillance, especially of a people by its government. Translations (unwarranted and invasive government surveillance): isoveli (Finnish), Big Brother (French), Μεγάλος Αδελφός (Megálos Adelfós) [masculine] (Greek), Nagy Testvér (Hungarian), Wielki Brat [masculine] (Polish), Grande Irmão [masculine] (Portuguese), Большо́й Брат (Bolʹšój Brat) [masculine] (Russian), велики брат [masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), veliki brat [masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), Gran Hermano [masculine] (Spanish), storebror [common-gender] (Swedish), Brawd Mawr [masculine] (Welsh)
    Sense id: en-Big_Brother-en-noun-2JUIC1j0 Categories (other): British fiction Disambiguation of British fiction: 61 39 Disambiguation of 'unwarranted and invasive government surveillance': 97 3
  2. Any omnipresent authority or figurehead representing oppressive control. Coordinate_terms: the man, leviathan Translations (authority representing oppressive control): 老大哥 (lǎodàgē) (Chinese Mandarin), Wielki Brat [masculine] (Polish), Grande Irmão [masculine] (Portuguese), Gran Hermano [masculine] (Spanish), Brawd Mawr [masculine] (Welsh)
    Sense id: en-Big_Brother-en-noun-wdVb2lsA Categories (other): English entries referencing missing etymons, English entries with etymon, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages using etymon with no ID, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Pages with etymon, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Welsh translations, Collectives, Fictional characters, Forms of government Disambiguation of English entries referencing missing etymons: 24 76 Disambiguation of English entries with etymon: 12 88 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 23 77 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 13 87 Disambiguation of Pages using etymon with no ID: 11 89 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 11 89 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 5 95 Disambiguation of Pages with etymon: 7 93 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 22 78 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 22 78 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 28 72 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 37 63 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 38 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 5 95 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 20 80 Disambiguation of Terms with Welsh translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Collectives: 23 77 Disambiguation of Fictional characters: 13 87 Disambiguation of Forms of government: 24 76 Disambiguation of 'authority representing oppressive control': 3 97
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: Big-Brotherish, Big Brotherism

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "58 42",
      "word": "Big-Brotherish"
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      "_dis1": "58 42",
      "word": "Big Brotherism"
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  "descendants": [
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "lǎodàgē",
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          "word": "老大哥"
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      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
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      "word": "Big Brother"
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      "lang": "Greek",
      "lang_code": "el",
      "roman": "Megálos Adelfós",
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        "calque",
        "calque"
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      "word": "Μεγάλος Αδελφός"
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      "lang": "Hungarian",
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      "tags": [
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      "word": "Wielki Brat"
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      "lang": "Portuguese",
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      "word": "Grande Irmão"
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    {
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "Bolʹšój Brat",
      "tags": [
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        "calque"
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      "word": "Большо́й Брат"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Cyrillic script",
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          "word": "велики брат"
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          "lang": "Latin script",
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    },
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      "expansion": "British writer and journalist George Orwell",
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  "etymology_text": "After the nominal leader of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by British writer and journalist George Orwell.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Big Brothers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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    },
    {
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  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "61 39",
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        {
          "ref": "2002, Lorrie Faith Cranor, Web privacy with P3P, page 12",
          "text": "Some people are worried about marketing calls at dinnertime or junk mail or spam, while others are more concerned about Big Brother."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Bertrand du Castel, Timothy M. Jurgensen Computer Theology, page 314",
          "text": "When one mentions the concepts of identity and governance in the same breath, a virtually autonomic response from many is the concern that a governmental big brother will soon be looking over their shoulders."
        }
      ],
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        "Unwarranted, invasive, and discreet surveillance, especially of a people by its government."
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      "translations": [
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "fi",
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          "lang_code": "fi",
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        },
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
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          "word": "Big Brother"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "el",
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          "roman": "Megálos Adelfós",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Μεγάλος Αδελφός"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "word": "Nagy Testvér"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Wielki Brat"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Grande Irmão"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "Bolʹšój Brat",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Большо́й Брат"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "lang_code": "sh",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "велики брат"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "lang_code": "sh",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "veliki brat"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Gran Hermano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "lang_code": "sv",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "storebror"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "lang_code": "cy",
          "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Brawd Mawr"
        }
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      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "the man"
        },
        {
          "word": "leviathan"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Holonym: the System"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Rebecca A. Grant, Colin John Bennett, Visions of privacy: policy choices for the digital age, page 244",
          "text": "In the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the height of public concern over the emergence of a Big Brother society, privacy activism shared features in common with some of the hard-line environmental campaigns of the 1990s."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Rodney Carlisle, Rodney P. Carlisle, Complete idiot's guide to spies and espionage, page 195",
          "text": "When the agencies of the federal government spied on the political activities of US citizens, they moved into the grey area between concern with national security and a Big Brother system that violated constitutional protections."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any omnipresent authority or figurehead representing oppressive control."
      ],
      "id": "en-Big_Brother-en-noun-wdVb2lsA",
      "links": [
        [
          "omnipresent",
          "omnipresent"
        ],
        [
          "authority",
          "authority"
        ],
        [
          "figurehead",
          "figurehead"
        ],
        [
          "oppressive",
          "oppressive"
        ],
        [
          "control",
          "control"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 97",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "lǎodàgē",
          "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
          "word": "老大哥"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 97",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Wielki Brat"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 97",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "lang_code": "pt",
          "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Grande Irmão"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 97",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Gran Hermano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 97",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "lang_code": "cy",
          "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Brawd Mawr"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Nineteen Eighty-Four",
    "Oceania (Nineteen Eighty-Four)"
  ],
  "word": "Big Brother"
}
{
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      ],
      "word": "Grande Irmão"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "Bolʹšój Brat",
      "tags": [
        "calque",
        "calque"
      ],
      "word": "Большо́й Брат"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Cyrillic script",
          "lang_code": "sh",
          "word": "велики брат"
        },
        {
          "lang": "Latin script",
          "lang_code": "sh",
          "word": "veliki brat"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "lang_code": "sh",
      "raw_tags": [
        "calque"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "tags": [
        "calque",
        "calque"
      ],
      "word": "Gran Hermano"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "tags": [
        "calque",
        "calque"
      ],
      "word": "storebror"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "big",
        "4": "brother"
      },
      "expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*brōþēr\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*brōþer\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"brōþor\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"brother\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"brother\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"Big Brother\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"Big Brother\">",
      "name": "ety"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Q3335"
      },
      "expansion": "British writer and journalist George Orwell",
      "name": "person"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "After the nominal leader of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by British writer and journalist George Orwell.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Big Brothers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "big brother",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "Big Brother"
      },
      "expansion": "Big Brother (plural Big Brothers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Lorrie Faith Cranor, Web privacy with P3P, page 12",
          "text": "Some people are worried about marketing calls at dinnertime or junk mail or spam, while others are more concerned about Big Brother."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Bertrand du Castel, Timothy M. Jurgensen Computer Theology, page 314",
          "text": "When one mentions the concepts of identity and governance in the same breath, a virtually autonomic response from many is the concern that a governmental big brother will soon be looking over their shoulders."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Unwarranted, invasive, and discreet surveillance, especially of a people by its government."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Unwarranted",
          "unwarranted"
        ],
        [
          "invasive",
          "invasive"
        ],
        [
          "discreet",
          "discreet"
        ],
        [
          "surveillance",
          "surveillance"
        ],
        [
          "people",
          "people"
        ],
        [
          "government",
          "government"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "the man"
        },
        {
          "word": "leviathan"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Holonym: the System"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Rebecca A. Grant, Colin John Bennett, Visions of privacy: policy choices for the digital age, page 244",
          "text": "In the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the height of public concern over the emergence of a Big Brother society, privacy activism shared features in common with some of the hard-line environmental campaigns of the 1990s."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Rodney Carlisle, Rodney P. Carlisle, Complete idiot's guide to spies and espionage, page 195",
          "text": "When the agencies of the federal government spied on the political activities of US citizens, they moved into the grey area between concern with national security and a Big Brother system that violated constitutional protections."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any omnipresent authority or figurehead representing oppressive control."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "omnipresent",
          "omnipresent"
        ],
        [
          "authority",
          "authority"
        ],
        [
          "figurehead",
          "figurehead"
        ],
        [
          "oppressive",
          "oppressive"
        ],
        [
          "control",
          "control"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "word": "isoveli"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "word": "Big Brother"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "lang_code": "el",
      "roman": "Megálos Adelfós",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Μεγάλος Αδελφός"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "word": "Nagy Testvér"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Wielki Brat"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Grande Irmão"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "Bolʹšój Brat",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Большо́й Брат"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "lang_code": "sh",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "велики брат"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "lang_code": "sh",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "veliki brat"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Gran Hermano"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "storebror"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "lang_code": "cy",
      "sense": "unwarranted and invasive government surveillance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Brawd Mawr"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "lǎodàgē",
      "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
      "word": "老大哥"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Wielki Brat"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Grande Irmão"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Gran Hermano"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "lang_code": "cy",
      "sense": "authority representing oppressive control",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Brawd Mawr"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Nineteen Eighty-Four",
    "Oceania (Nineteen Eighty-Four)"
  ],
  "word": "Big Brother"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Big Brother meaning in All languages combined (8.9kB)

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}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.