expansion

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪkˈspæn.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French expansion,^[2] or directly borrowed from Late Latin expānsiō (“a spreading out”),^[2][3][4] from expānsus, the past participle of Latin expandere “to spread out, unfold”,^[2][4] from ex “out” and pandere “to spread, stretch”,^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *pete- (“to spread”).^[2] It is related to expand and expanse.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something spread out, an expanse, especially the expanse of heaven: 1611 in the OED and MWU,^[6][3] the 1610s in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The action of spreading out or unfolding is from 1646,^[6] the 1640s in Etymonline,^[2] and the action of making something larger or of increasing in volume from 1664.^[6] Locke used it for pure space (1690).^[6] Later senses include the writing out in full of what a statement implies (1858)^[6] and, in mathematics, an expression written as a sum or product of terms.^[7][8] Growth in the activities of a business or a country's economy is a modern sense.^[8][7]

Timeline

• 1611 – an expanse.^[6][3]
• 1646 – the act of spreading out.^[6]
• 1664 – increase in size or volume.^[6]
• 1690 – pure space.^[6]
• 1858 – detailed statement of what is implied.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act or process of making or becoming larger, or the state of being expanded.
2. An increase or development, especially of a business or economy.
3. The amount by which something has expanded.
4. A fuller or more detailed version of something.
5. (mathematics) An expression written as the sum or product of its terms.

Word family

• expansional
• expansionism
• antiexpansion
• expansionary
• nonexpansion
• overexpansion
• reexpansion
• expansion card

Related words

• expand
• expanse
• expansive

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins