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“By and large” is a nautical idiom that entered English in the early 17th century and reached its modern figurative sense by the 18th century.

Origins and literal meaning-

• Nautical components: “by” and “large” were two distinct sailing terms.
  • “By” meant close to the wind: a ship sailing “by” the wind made a course towards the wind, keeping the sails trimmed in.
  • “Large” (or “larboard/large”) meant off the wind: a ship sailing “large” ran with the wind more from astern, with sails eased.
• Combined phrase: A ship that could sail “by and large” could sail both close to the wind and with the wind—i.e., it handled well in all points of sail. Early uses therefore praised a vessel’s versatility and seaworthiness.

Historical evidence

• Earliest attestations: The phrase appears in English seafaring texts and logs from the 1600s. By the mid-18th century it was used in maritime dictionaries and seamanship manuals with the literal sailing sense.
• Figurative shift: By the late 18th and early 19th centuries the expression had broadened into general usage to mean “on the whole,” “in general,” or “with few exceptions,” reflecting the original sense of “in most circumstances.”

Why the literal sense led to the idiom-

• Practical seamanship values versatility; a vessel “by and large” was reliable under varied conditions. That practical reliability naturally became a metaphor for general statements: something that holds “by and large” does so in the main, even if not in every detail.