breadth (n.)

"distance between the sides," late 14c., alteration of brede "breadth," from Old English brædu "breadth, width, extent," from bræd; probably by analogy of long/length.

Entries linking to breadth

length (n.)

Old English lengðu "property of being long or extended in one direction; distance along a line," from Proto-Germanic *langitho, abstract noun from *langaz "long" (root of Old English lang; see long (adj.)) + *-itho, abstract noun suffix (see -th (2)). Cognate with Old Norse lengd, Old Frisian lengethe, Dutch lengte.

Figurative sense of "the distance one goes, extremity to which something is carried" is from 1690s. Phrase at length "to full extent" is attested from c. 1500. As "the length of a swimming pool," 1903. From the notion of "a piece or portion of the extent of anything" come the theater slang sense "a 42-line portion of an actor's part" (1736) and the sporting sense "the length of a horse, car, etc. in a race" used as a unit of measure (1650s).

hairbreadth (n.)

also hairsbreadth, hairs-breadth, hair's breadth, from late 15c. as a measure of minute exactness. It is said to once have been a formal unit of measure equal to one-forty-eighth of an inch. From hair + breadth.

width (n.)

1620s, formed from wide on model of breadth, and replacing wideness (Old English widnes). Johnson (1755) calls it "a low word." Related: Widthwise.

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updated on July 28, 2017

Definitions of breadth from WordNet

breadth (n.)

the capacity to understand a broad range of topics;

a teacher must have a breadth of knowledge of the subject

Synonyms: comprehensiveness / largeness

breadth (n.)

the extent of something from side to side;

Synonyms: width

From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near breadth

brb

breach

bread

bread-and-butter

bread-basket

breadth

breadwinner

break

breakable

breakage

breakaway