broad

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See also: Broad. and B road

English[edit]

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Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English brood, brode, from Old English brād (“broad, flat, open, extended, spacious, wide, ample, copious”), 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]

Adjective[edit]

broad (comparative broader, superlative broadest)

  1. Wide in extent or scope.
    three feet broad
    the broad expanse of ocean
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:
      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.
  2. 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
  3. Having a large measure of any thing or quality; unlimited; unrestrained.
  4. 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
  5. Plain; evident.
    a broad hint
  6. (writing) Unsubtle; obvious.
  7. Free; unrestrained; unconfined.
  8. (dated) Gross; coarse; indelicate.
    a broad compliment; a broad joke; broad humour
  9. (of an accent) Strongly regional.
    She still has a broad Scottish accent, despite moving to California 20 years ago.
  10. (Gaelic languages) Velarized, i.e. not palatalized.
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from broad (adjective)
Translations[edit]
wide — see wide

Noun[edit]

broad (plural broads)

  1. (Britain) A shallow lake, one of a number of bodies of water in eastern Norfolk and Suffolk.
  2. A lathe tool for turning down the insides and bottoms of cylinders.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)
  3. (Britain, historical) A British gold coin worth 20 shillings, issued by the Commonwealth of England in 1656.
Derived terms[edit]

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 already Middle High German brūt (“concubine”).

Noun[edit]

broad (plural broads)

  1. (dated) A prostitute, a woman of loose morals.
  3. (US, colloquial, slang, sometimes dated, derogatory) A woman or girl.
    Who was that broad I saw you with?
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
whore — see whore

See also[edit]

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)

  1. person from a country

Inflection[edit]

  Mutation of broad  
Breton consonant mutation
unmutated soft aspirate hard
singular broad vroad unchanged proad
plural broiz vroiz unchanged proiz

Noun[edit]

broad f (plural broadoù)

  1. nation

Inflection[edit]

  Mutation of broad  
Breton consonant mutation
unmutated soft aspirate hard
singular broad vroad unchanged proad
plural broadoù vroadoù unchanged proadoù

Derived terms[edit]

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