Etymologically
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spread

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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
  • 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)