Etymologically
Log in

extensive

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪkˈsten.sɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English extensive, borrowed from Middle French extensif, or it is borrowed from Late Latin extēnsīvus,[2][3] from extēns-, past participle stem of Latin extendere “to stretch out”,[4][5] the source of extend.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Characterized by swelling, in medicine: the early 15th century in Etymonline.[4] The Shorter Oxford also dates it to late Middle English.[3]

Semantic evolution

Capable of being extended is from 1610 and is obsolete.[6] Of immaterial things, far-reaching or wide in scope, is from about 1600 (1605 in the OED, 1604 in MWU),[4][6][5] and of material things, covering a large area, from about 1700 (1706 in the OED).[4][6] In economics, extensive farming uses large areas with little labour or expense (1832).[6][7]

Timeline

  • early 15th century – medical, swelling.[4]
  • 1605 – far-reaching.[6]
  • 1610 – able to be extended.[6]
  • 1706 – covering a large area.[6]
  • 1832 – of farming methods.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Large in amount, area or range; thorough.
  2. Of farming, using large areas of land with little labour or expense.

Word family

  • extensively
  • extensiveness
  • coextensive
  • nonextensive

References

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