broad English · revision 4766

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *braidaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /brɔːd/, US /brɑːd/, /brɔːd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|brod]], [[inh|ang|brād|t=wide, flat, open]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*braidaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Old Frisian and Old Saxon brēd, Dutch breed, German breit, Old Norse breiðr and Gothic braiþs.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is of unknown origin, with no related words outside Germanic.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Its vowel kept an older sound, unlike boat and road, possibly because of a shortened variant in words like broadly and broadcloth.^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[breadth]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Wide across: about 725 in Barnhart, in Beowulf, and earlier in the compound brādlāstæcus “broadaxe” (about 700).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that there is no clear distinction in sense between broad and [[wide]].^(Etymonline) Of daylight it is from the late 14th century, as in ''broad daylight'', and of speech and accents, strongly regional, by the mid-15th century;^(Etymonline) Bokenham wrote about 1447 that the speech of Yorkshire was so broad that southerners could hardly understand it.^(Etymonline) The noun first meant breadth (about 1300).^(Etymonline) In Norfolk dialect a broad is a shallow lake formed by a widening river, from the 1650s,^(Etymonline)^(Wright 1898) hence ''the Broads''.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Collins 2023) The American slang sense “woman” is by 1911, and its early use suggests immorality or low status;^(Etymonline) because of this the athletic ''broad jump'' (1863) was renamed the ''long jump''.^(Etymonline) ''Broadcast'' was first used of scattering seed (1767).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – wide.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – noun, breadth.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – ''broad day''.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – of speech, strongly regional.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – a Norfolk lake.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1726 – ''broaden''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1767 – ''broadcast'', of seed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1911 – slang, a woman.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Wide from side to side.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Large in extent; [[spacious]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Covering many things or people; general: ''a broad range''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Dealing with the main points and not the details: ''in broad terms''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Tolerant or liberal.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of speech, strongly marked by a regional [[accent]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Clear and open: ''a broad hint'', ''broad daylight''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Coarse or vulgar: ''broad humour''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(slang, US, offensive)'' A woman.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Broads)'' The shallow lakes of [[Norfolk]] and Suffolk.^(Collins 2023)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[broadly]]

+ * [[broadness]]

+ * [[broadish]]

+ * [[breadth]]

+ * [[broadband]]

+ * [[broaden]]

+ * [[broadscale]]

+ * [[broadsword]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[broadcast]]

+ * [[abroad]]

+ * [[wide]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}