Dictionary

breadth en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /bɹɛθ/
• /bɹɛdθ/
• /bɹɛtθ/

Etymology

From Middle English bredthe, alteration (due to nouns ending in -th: length, strength, wrength, etc.) of brede ("breadth"; see bread). Equivalent to broad + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots bredth (“breadth”), Saterland Frisian Bratte (“breadth”), West Frisian breedte (“breadth”), Dutch breedte (“breadth”), German Low German Breddte, Breddt (“breadth”), German Breite (“breadth”), Danish bredde (“breadth”), Norwegian Bokmål bredde (“breadth”), Swedish bredd (“breadth”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The extent or measure of how broad or wide something is; width.
   • The sledges of the Esquimaux are of large size, varying from six and a half to nine and even eleven feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in breadth. 1873, Charles Tomlinson, chapter III, in Winter in the Arctic Regions and Summer in the Antarctic Regions, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, →OCLC, page 122:
   • The breadth of the corridor is 4.5 metres.
2. (countable, uncountable) A piece of fabric of standard width.
3. (countable, uncountable) Scope or range, especially of knowledge or skill.
   • expand one’s breadth of marketing
   • "The breadth of this LPR system is spectacular and amounts to a warrantless search." 2023 July 24, Chris Eberhart, “NY police used AI to track drivers on highways as attorney questions legality”, in Fox News, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2023:
4. (countable, uncountable) A style in painting in which details are strictly subordinated to the harmony of the whole composition.
5. (countable, uncountable) The length of the longest path between two vertices in a graph.

Forms

Deriveds

footbreadth · straw's breadth · finger-breadth · fingersbreadth · straw-breadth · breadthless · breadth-riders · handbreadth · breadth-first search · bizygomatic breadth · handsbreadth · breadthwise · overbreadth · length and breadth · breadth index · foot-breadth · acre breadth · breadth indicator · fingerbreadth · breadthways · by a hair's breadth · hairbreadth · breadth of mind · brength · breadth-height index · curve of constant breadth · breadth of accommodation · hairsbreadth · breadth-first traversal · breadth of the market · thumbsbreadth · breadth of tone · hand's breadth · breadth of effect · breadthen · breadth-line · hair's breadth · wheel breadth · breadth of market · finger's breadth · index of breadth · breadth-of-market theory

Synonyms

range (scope or range) · extent (scope or range) · width (extent or measure of how broad something is) · scope (scope or range) · size (scope or range)

Translations (21)

bg широта́ (scope, range) · ru широта́ (scope, range) · ru ширина́ (piece of fabric of standard width) · scn largu (scope, range) · gd leud (scope, range) · sv bredd (scope, range) · enm brede (piece of fabric of standard width) · enm brede (scope, range) · bg обхва́т (scope, range) · scn larghizza (scope, range) · ru обхва́т (scope, range) · ru разма́х (scope, range) · ru поло́тнище (piece of fabric of standard width) · ba киңлек (scope, range) · bg ширина́ (piece of fabric of standard width) · bg разма́х (scope, range) · ota قناد (piece of fabric of standard width) · de Breite (scope, range) · scn grannizza (scope, range) · gd farsaingeachd (scope, range) · ru объём (scope, range)