Etymologically
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spacious

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈspeɪʃ.əs/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman spacioux and Middle French spacieux (“covering a wide area, extensive”),[2] recorded in Anglo-Norman as spacios and espacios from the 12th century,[2][3][4] and directly borrowed from Latin spatiōsus (“roomy, ample, extensive”),[2][3][5][6] in Medieval Latin also spaciosus.[2][3] The Latin adjective is formed from spatium (“room, space”), the source of space, with -ōsus.[2][7][8] The OED compares Old Occitan espacios, Spanish espacioso, Portuguese espaçoso and Italian spazioso.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of land, of vast or wide extent, and of a room or dwelling, roomy: both before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From its two first senses, of land and of rooms, the word spread to wide roads and courtyards (1506), to things with a large surface (1587) and to bulky or voluminous objects (1595).[2] From 1589 it was used of immaterial things, great or far-reaching,[2] and in Marlowe's translation of Ovid, before 1593, of time, as Latin spatiōsus could be.[2] Shakespeare's Sonnets (1609) have the first record of the sense "broad in views or sympathies".[2] Two uses died out: a widely spoken word or language (1610–1647) and the adverb, meaning spaciously (1615–1757).[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as wide, extensive and roomy.[9]

Timeline

  • before 1382 – of land, of wide extent; of a dwelling, roomy.[2]
  • 1506 – of a road or courtyard, wide, broad.[2]
  • 1589 – of an immaterial thing, great, far-reaching.[2]
  • before 1593 – of time, prolonged.[2]
  • 1595 – bulky, voluminous.[2]
  • 1609 – broad in views or sympathies, in Shakespeare's Sonnets.[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson: wide, extensive, roomy.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having plenty of room; roomy: The new flat has a spacious living room.[10][8][2]
  2. Vast in area; extensive: the spacious prairies of the West.[8][2]
  3. Great in scope or extent; ample.[2][11]
  4. Broad in views or sympathies.[2]

Word family

  • spaciously
  • spaciousness
  • overspacious
  • unspacious

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press