wide
Pronunciation
- IPA: /waɪd/[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English wid, wide,[2][3] inherited from Old English wīd (“wide, vast, long”),[4][3][2] from Proto-Germanic *wīdaz,[5][4] the source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian wīd, Dutch wijd, Old High German wīt (German weit) and Old Norse víðr.[3][4][6] Its further origin is uncertain:[5][6] Barnhart compares Sanskrit vīta- “gone apart”, from Proto-Indo-European *wītós, from *wi- “apart” and *itós “gone”,[3] and Etymonline cites Watkins for a PIE *wi-ito-, from the root *wi- “apart, away”,[4] while Merriam-Webster suggests a prehistoric West and North Germanic compound.[2] The adverb is Old English wīde, from the adjective.[3][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
Old English wīd, “having great extent, vast”, is found about 725 in Beowulf,[3] and was also used of time;[4] Middle English wide is from probably 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle and Layamon.[3]
Semantic evolution
The basic sense is extent from side to side, and in early use also vastness in general.[4][7] Garments that were wide were large and loose, from before 1225.[7] The sense “distended, spread apart” is by about 1500,[4] “embracing many subjects” from the 1530s,[4] and “missing the intended target” from the 1580s.[4] A dialect with a broad accent was called wide by the mid-15th century.[4] As the second part of compounds such as nationwide and worldwide, “extending through the whole of”, it is from late Old English.[4] In cricket a wide is a ball bowled out of the batsman's reach, from 1846.[7] Wide open, “unguarded, exposed to attack”, is by 1915, first in boxing,[4] wide-awake from 1818, in Shelley,[3] and widen from the 17th century.[5]
Timeline
- c. 725 – Old English wīd.[3]
- before 1225 – of garments, large and loose.[7]
- mid-15th century – of a dialect, broad.[4]
- c. 1500 – spread apart.[4]
- 1530s – embracing many subjects.[4]
- 1580s – missing the target.[4]
- 1818 – wide-awake.[3]
- 1846 – in cricket, a wide ball.[7]
- 1915 – wide open.[4]
- 1931 – wide-screen.[4]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Measuring a great distance from side to side; broad.
- Having a specified width: three feet wide.
- Covering a large range; including many things: a wide choice.
- Fully open: wide eyes.
- Far from the intended target.
- (in compounds) Throughout a specified area: nationwide.
Adverb
- Over a large area; far and wide.
- To the full extent: wide open.
- So as to miss a target.
Noun
- (cricket) A ball bowled out of the batsman's reach, counting as a run.
Word family
- widely
- wideness
- wide-angle
- doublewide
- overwide
- superwide
- ultrawide
Related words
- width
- widen
- worldwide
- nationwide
Usage notes
Wide and broad are often interchangeable, but wide is preferred for openings and spaces between things, and broad for the extent of a surface.[8]
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin