width English · revision 10501

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1627|origins=en wide}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈwɪtθ/, /ˈwɪdθ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[wide]] with the suffix [[-th]], on the model of [[breadth]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) displacing wideness.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Extent from side to side: 1627.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) called it a low word, and the OED a literary formation.^(Etymonline) Great extent, or wideness of mind, is from 1697,^(OED 1989) and a wide expanse from 1866.^(OED 1989) A piece of material at its full width is a later use,^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) and the width of a swimming bath as a distance swum from 1930.^(OED 1989) ''Widthways'' and ''widthless'' are from 1852.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1627 – breadth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1697 – great extent.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1755 – Johnson's 'low word'.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1930 – a width of a pool.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The measurement of something from side to side; [[breadth]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The state of being wide.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A piece of material of full width: ''a width of cloth''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The distance across a swimming pool.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bandwidth]]

+ * [[widthwise]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[breadth]]

+ * [[wide]]

+ * [[length]]

+ * [[depth]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}