spread

Pronunciation

• IPA: /spred/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English spreden,^[2][3] probably inherited from Old English *sprǣdan, found in compounds such as tōsprǣdan “to spread out”,^[3][2][4] from Proto-West Germanic *spraidijan, a causative of a verb found in Old High German sprītan “to be extended”.^[4][2][5] It is related to Dutch spreiden and German spreiten.^[2][6] Watkins derives it from an extended form of Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to strew”).^[3] The noun and adjective are from the verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To stretch out, extend over an area: the late 12th century in Etymonline^[3] and probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle and Layamon, in Barnhart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“To scatter, bestrew” is from the mid-13th century,^[3] “to extend, expand” from the mid-14th,^[3] and “to make wide” from the late 14th.^[3] The adjective, “stretched out”, is from about 1511.^[2] The noun, the act of spreading, is in Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum (1626),^[2] and the extent of something from 1691.^[2][7] Food for spreading, such as butter or jam, is from 1812,^[2][3] and a copious meal from 1822.^[3] A bed cover is spread from 1848, originally American.^[3][8] In economics the difference between two rates or prices is from 1919,^[7][3] and a ranch from 1927.^[2][3]

Timeline

• late 12th century – to stretch out.^[3]
• mid-13th century – to scatter.^[3]
• c. 1511 – adjective, extended.^[2]
• 1626 – noun, the act of spreading.^[2]
• 1812 – food for spreading.^[2][3]
• 1822 – a copious meal.^[3]
• 1919 – a difference between prices.^[7][3]
• 1927 – a ranch.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To open or stretch out to full width: spread the map.
2. To put a thin layer of something over a surface.
3. To distribute or extend over a wide area or period.
4. To make or become widely known: the news spread.
5. To pass from person to person, as a disease.

Noun

1. The act of spreading; increase in extent.
2. The extent or range of something: a wide spread of ages.
3. A soft food for spreading on bread.
4. (informal) A large meal.
5. A cloth cover for a bed.
6. A difference between two prices or rates.

Word family

• spreadability
• spreadable
• spreadably

Related words

• sprout
• bedspread
• widespread
• outspread

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 h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)