broad
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɹɔːd/
ipa: /bɹɔd/
ipa: /bɹɑd/
ipa: /bɹoːd/
rhymes: -ɔːd
other: /ɔː/
other: /əʊ/
other: /ɡɹɔːt/
Forms: form: broader
form: broadest
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-der.?
Proto-Germanic *braidaz
Proto-West Germanic *braid
Old English brād
Middle English brod
English broad
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”).
Senses: examples: text: three feet broad
text: the broad expanse of ocean
text: Thus Falstaff, in Shakspeare, is a character of the broadest comedy, giving himself unreservedly to the senses, coolly ignoring the Reason, whilst he invokes its name, pretending to patriotism and to parental virtues, not with any intent to deceive, but only to make the fun perfect by enjoying the confusion betwixt reason and the negation of reason,—in other words, the rank rascaldom he is calling by its name.
ref: 1870, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Comic”, in Letters and Social Aims (The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson; VIII), Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Company, published 1903, page 130:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: 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".
ref: 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:
text: 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.
ref: 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
text: The criterion for positivity was determined for each antigen of each species applying a mixture model to the PP data which assumed two inherent Gaussian distributions: a narrow distribution or seronegatives, and a broader distribution of seropositives.
ref: 2015 September 11, “Hotspots of Malaria Transmission in the Peruvian Amazon: Rapid Assessment through a Parasitological and Serological Survey”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:
glosses: Wide in extent or scope.
examples: text: broad and open day
ref: 1720, William Bartlet, a sermon:
text: crushing the minds of its victims in the broad and open day
ref: May 12, 1860, Eliza Watson, Witches and witchcraft (in Once A Week, No. 46.)
glosses: Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full.
examples: text: a broad mixture of falsehood
ref: 1693, [John Locke], “§140”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Having a large measure of any thing or quality; unlimited; unrestrained.
examples: text: The words in the Constitution are broad enough to include the case.
ref: 1819, D. Daggett, Sturges v. Crowninshield:
text: in a broad, statesmanlike, and masterly way
ref: 1859, Edward Everett, Daniel Webster: An Oration On the Occasion of the Dedication of the Statue of Mr. Webster,:
glosses: Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged.
examples: text: a broad hint
glosses: Plain; evident.
examples: text: to be in broad agreement
glosses: General rather than specific.
examples: text: Lee: I wrote that line for you. Maeve: A bit broad, if you ask me.
ref: 2018 April 22, “Journey into Night” (39:17 from the start), in Westworld, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Maeve Millay and Lee Sizemore (Thandie Newton and Simon Quarterman), via HBO:
topics: communications
journalism
literature
media
publishing
writing
glosses: Unsubtle; obvious.
examples: text: as broad and general as the casing air
ref: c. 1606 (date written), 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, [Act III, scene iv]:
glosses: Free; unrestrained; unconfined.
examples: text: a broad compliment; a broad joke; broad humour
glosses: Gross; coarse; indelicate.
examples: text: She still has a broad Scottish accent, despite moving to California 20 years ago.
glosses: Strongly regional.
raw_tags: of an accent
qualifier: Gaelic languages
glosses: Velarized, i.e. not palatalized.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: abroad
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: as broad as long
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: breadth
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadacre
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad across the beam
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad and shallow
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad antigen
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad arrow
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad arrowhead
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad awake
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadaxe
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadband
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-based
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-beamed
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad bean
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadbill
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-billed flycatcher
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-billed parrot
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-billed sandpiper
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadbrim
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadbrimmed
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-brush
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-brusher
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadcast
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broad Chalke
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad church
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadcloth
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broadclyst
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad cooper
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad daylight
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broaden
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-gauge
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad gauge
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broad Green
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broad Haven
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadhead
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-headed bug
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad hint
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad in the beam
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadish
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad jump
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-leaf
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadleaf
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-leaved
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-leaved epiphyllum
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-leaved garlic
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-leaved ragwort
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad ligament
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadline
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadloom
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadly
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-minded
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-mindedly
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-mindedness
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad mite
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad money
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broadmoor
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadmouth
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-mouthed
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadness
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-nosed weevil
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadpiece
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-ranging
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad reach
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-reaching
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadscale
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad seal
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadseal
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadshare
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadsheet
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-shouldered
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad shoulders
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadside
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-spectrum
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-spectrum antibiotic
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadspread
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadspreading
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broad Street
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad strokes
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadsword
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad sword
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadtail
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad tape
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broad Town
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad transcription
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadway
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: Broadway
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadwing
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broad-winged hawk
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: broadwise
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: in broad daylight
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: midbroad
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: not be able to hit the broad side of a barn
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: overbroad
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: paint with a broad brush
sense: Terms derived from broad (adjective)
word: ultrabroad
Related terms: Bradford
Bradley
Bradshaw