extent English · revision 4983

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1292|origins=la extendere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪkˈstent/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|extente]], [[bor|xno|extente|alt=extente, estente|t=valuation; stretch of land]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from [[la-med|extenta]], the feminine past participle of Latin extendere “to stretch out”,^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) the source of [[extend]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In law, the valuation of land or property for taxation, and the value assigned: 1292 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Rents from valued lands are from 1303,^(OED 1989) and a tax on such a valuation from 1597, obsolete.^(OED 1989) Seizure of lands under a writ is from 1592, and a writ to recover debts owed to the Crown from 1630.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) Shakespeare used it once for an attack, in Twelfth Night.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989) The general meaning “the degree to which something extends, size, scope” is from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1292 – a valuation of land.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1303 – rents from valued land.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1592 – seizure under a writ.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – size, degree.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1630 – a writ of extent.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The size or area of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The degree to which something is true or happens: ''to some extent''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law, historical)'' A [[writ]] allowing a creditor to take a debtor's property.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[extend]]

+ * [[extension]]

+ * [[extensive]]

+ * [[tend]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}