magnitude

Universal Words noun ~ (of sth) 1 [U] (formal) the great size or importance of sth; the degree to which sth is large or important: We did not realize the magnitude of the problem. * a discovery of the first magnitude 2 [C,U] (astronomy) the degree to which a star is bright: The star varies in brightness by about three magnitudes. * a star of the second / third magnitude 3 [C,U] (geology) the size of an earthquake: The quake reached a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale.