broad
English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English brood, brode, from Old English brād (“broad, flat, open, extended, spacious, wide, ample, copious”), from Proto-West Germanic *braid, from Proto-Germanic *braidaz (“broad”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots braid (“broad”), West Frisian breed (“broad”), Saterland Frisian breed (“broad”), Low German breed (“broad”), breet, Dutch breed (“broad”), German breit (“broad, wide”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål bred (“broad”), Norwegian brei (“broad”), Icelandic breiður (“broad, wide”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (US) (file) - (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /bɹɔːd/
- (General American) IPA(key): /bɹɔd/
- (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA(key): /bɹɑd/
- Rhymes: -ɔːd
Adjective[edit]
broad (comparative broader, superlative broadest)
- Wide in extent or scope.
- three feet broad
- the broad expanse of ocean
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
- Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
- 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian:
- Julia Farrington, head of arts at Index on Censorship, argues that extra powers to ban violent videos online will "end up too broad and open to misapplication, which would damage freedom of expression".
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
- Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full.
- 1720, William Bartlet, a sermon
- broad and open day
- May 12, 1860, Eliza Watson, Witches and witchcraft (in Once A Week, No. 46.)
- crushing the minds of its victims in the broad and open day
- 1720, William Bartlet, a sermon
- Having a large measure of any thing or quality; unlimited; unrestrained.
- 1693, [John Locke], “§140”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], OCLC 1161614482:
- a broad mixture of falsehood
- Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged.
- 1819, D. Daggett, Sturges v. Crowninshield
- The words in the Constitution are broad enough to include the case.
- 1859, Edward Everett, Daniel Webster: An Oration On the Occasion of the Dedication of the Statue of Mr. Webster,
- in a broad, statesmanlike, and masterly way
- 1819, D. Daggett, Sturges v. Crowninshield
- Plain; evident.
- a broad hint
- General rather than specific.
- to be in broad agreement
- (writing) Unsubtle; obvious.
- 2018 April 22, “Journey into Night”, in Westworld, season 2, episode 1, HBO, spoken by Maeve Millay and Lee Sizemore (Thandie Newton and Simon Quarterman), 39:17 from the start:
- Lee: I wrote that line for you. Maeve: A bit broad, if you ask me.
- Free; unrestrained; unconfined.
- c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iv]:
- as broad and general as the casing air
- (dated) Gross; coarse; indelicate.
- a broad compliment; a broad joke; broad humour
- (of an accent) Strongly regional.
- She still has a broad Scottish accent, despite moving to California 20 years ago.
- (Gaelic languages) Velarized, i.e. not palatalized.
Antonyms[edit]
- (wide—regarding occupied space, width of an object): thin, narrow
- (wide—regarding body width): skinny
- (comprehensive): all-encompassing; see also Thesaurus:comprehensive
- (not palatalized): slender
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Noun[edit]
broad (plural broads)
- (UK) A shallow lake, one of a number of bodies of water in eastern Norfolk and Suffolk.
- A lathe tool for turning down the insides and bottoms of cylinders[1].
- (UK, historical) A British gold coin worth 20 shillings, issued by the Commonwealth of England in 1656.
- (film, television) A kind of floodlight.
- 1974, The Video Handbook (page 71)
- […] fresnel spotlights, old-type broads, sky-pans, cone-lights, etc.
- 1976, Herbert Zettl, Television Production Handbook (volume 10, page 105)
- Some broads have barn doors (see page 115) to block gross light spill into other set areas; others have even an adjustable beam, […]
- 2015, Jim Owens, Television Production (page 194)
- Light bounced from large white surfaces (e.g., matte reflector boards, or a white ceiling). Floodlights include scoops, broads, floodlight, banks, internally reflected units, strip lights, and cyclorama lights.
- 1974, The Video Handbook (page 71)
Derived terms[edit]
- Broadland (sense 1)
- Oulton Broad (sense 1)
Etymology 2[edit]
Early 20th century. Said to be from abroadwife, "woman who lives or travels without her husband", though it might be in part an alteration of bride, especially through influence of cognate German Braut, which is used in the same sense of “broad, young woman, hussy”. Compare Middle High German brūt (“concubine”).
Noun[edit]
broad (plural broads)
- (dated) A prostitute, a woman of loose morals.
- (US, colloquial, slang, sometimes dated, derogatory) A woman or girl.
- Who was that broad I saw you with?
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:prostitute
- See also Thesaurus:woman
- See also Thesaurus:girl
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ 1874, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary
Anagrams[edit]
Breton[edit]
Etymology[edit]
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun[edit]
broad m (plural broiz)
Inflection[edit]
Noun[edit]
broad f (plural broadoù)
Inflection[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English terms with audio links
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɔːd
- Rhymes:English/ɔːd/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Writing
- English dated terms
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- English terms with historical senses
- en:Film
- en:Television
- English terms derived from German
- American English
- English colloquialisms
- English slang
- English derogatory terms
- Breton lemmas
- Breton nouns
- Breton masculine nouns
- Breton feminine nouns