Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “breadth” come from?

Breadth comes from Middle English breedthe, from Middle English brede, from Old English breġdan, from Proto-Germanic braidį̄ and brēgdaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰrēḱ-.

breadth (English): The extent or measure of how broad or wide...

Definitions

  1. The extent or measure of how broad or wide...

Ancestry of “breadth”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbredthe—
2Middle EnglishbredeAlternative form of breiden; Alternative form of...
3Old Englishbredsurface; plank, board; table, tablet
4Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
5Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
6Proto-Norse-īna-—
7Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
8Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
9Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “breadth”

  • hairbreadth
  • overbreadth
  • hairsbreadth
  • fingerbreadth
  • handsbreadth
  • breadthwise
  • breadthless
  • footbreadth
  • fingersbreadth
  • breadthen
  • thumbsbreadth
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →