span English · revision 10239

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 900|origins=gem-pro *spannan|origins=ine-pro *(s)pen-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spæn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English spanne, [[inh|ang|span|t=distance between the thumb and little finger of an extended hand]], spann,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) reinforced from about 1300 by Old French espan, of Germanic origin.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Dutch spanne, Old High German spanna (German [[m|de|Spanne]]) and Old Norse spǫnn,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and probably related to the verb Old English spannan, to join, fasten, from Proto-Germanic *spannan,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*(s)pen-|t=to draw, stretch, spin]].^(Etymonline) The Germanic word was also borrowed into Medieval Latin as spannus.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger of an outstretched hand, as a measure of length, roughly nine inches: about 900, in Alfred's translation of Bede.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a measure of volume, what two cupped hands can hold, it is from the early 14th century.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense, any short space, especially of time, is by the 1590s,^(Etymonline) as in ''mortal span'',^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 1989) and the full extent over which something stretches by the 1630s.^(Etymonline) The space between the supports of an arch or bridge is from 1725,^(Etymonline) and the maximum lateral dimension of an aircraft by 1909.^(Etymonline) The verb, Old English spannan, to join, clasp, also to stretch out,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) meant to measure with the hand in the 1550s,^(Etymonline) to stretch across or extend over by the 1630s,^(Etymonline) and to encircle with the hands by 1781.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 900 – a measure of the hand.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – to measure with the hand (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – a short space of time.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1630s – full extent; to extend across.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1725 – the span of an arch.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – the span of an aircraft.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The distance or space between two points or ends, as of a [[bridge]] or [[arch]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A part of a bridge between two supports.^(AHD)

+ # The whole duration or extent of something: ''the span of his life''.^(Collins 2023)

+ # The distance between the wingtips of an aircraft.^(AHD)

+ # The distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger of a spread hand, formerly a unit of about nine inches.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To extend across in space or time.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To measure with, or as with, the spread hand.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inspan]]

+ * [[outspan]]

+ * [[spanner]]

+ * [[timespan]]

+ * [[wingspan]]

+ * [[spanworm]]

+ * [[attention span]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spin]]

+ * [[spinner]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A span of oxen or mules, a matched pair driven together, is a separate word, from Dutch span (spannen, to yoke), first recorded in American English in 1769 and also used in South Africa.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD) Span is also an old past tense of [[spin]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}