worldwide

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌwɜːldˈwaɪd/, US /ˈwɝːld.waɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English world + wide,^[2][3] also written world-wide.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As wide as the world, extending over the whole world: 1632 in the OED and MWU,^[4][5] the 1630s in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adverb, throughout the world, is from 1892.^[4] The World Wide Web, the system of linked documents on the Internet, took its name from the word in the late 20th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1632 – adjective.^[4][5]
• 1892 – adverb.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Extending over or happening in the whole world; universal.

Adverb

1. Throughout the world.

Word family

• World Wide Web

Related words

• world
• wide

Usage notes

In British English the stress may shift to the first syllable before a noun, as in worldwide cover.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster