Etymologically
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expansion

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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
  • 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