breadth

[bredth, bretth, breth]

noun

1. the measure of the second largest dimension of a plane or solid figure; width.

2. an extent or piece of something of definite or full width or as measured by its width.

   a breadth of cloth.

3. freedom from narrowness or restraint; liberality.

   a person with great breadth of view.

   Synonyms: open-mindedness, impartiality, latitude

4. size in general; extent.

   Synonyms: compass, reach, range, scope, span

5. Art.,  a broad or general effect due to subordination of details or nonessentials.

breadth

/ brɛtθ, brɛdθ /

noun

1. the linear extent or measurement of something from side to side; width

2. a piece of fabric having a standard or definite width

3. distance, extent, size, or dimension

4. openness and lack of restriction, esp of viewpoint or interest; liberality

Other Word Forms

• breadthless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of breadth¹

1515–25; earlier bredeth, equivalent to brede breadth ( Middle English; Old English brǣdu, equivalent to brǣd-, mutated variant of brād broad + -u noun suffix) + -th ¹ ( def. ) akin to German Breite, Gothic braidei

Word History and Origins

Origin of breadth¹

C16: from obsolete brēde (from Old English brǣdu , from brād _broad ) + _-th ¹ ; related to Gothic braidei , Old High German breitī

Example Sentences

Its 78 million manuscripts, from the papers of the Continental Congress and George Washington to those of the Gershwin brothers and J. Robert Oppenheimer, cover the breadth of the American experience.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Like its predecessor, “Zootopia 2” impresses visually, especially given the breadth of characters and environments it immerses the audience in.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The breadth of resistance to a third cut became more apparent after the second cut in October.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“For the major indices, another encouraging sign that this sell-off is more of an unwind tied to monetary policy and liquidity is that earnings revisions breadth remains resilient,” Wilson added.

Read more on Barron's

The rolling-recovery thesis reinforcing his constructive approach on stocks is firstly based on Morgan Stanley’s observations that EPS revisions breadth rose again last week.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• comprehensiveness www.thesaurus.com
• dimension 
• fullness 
• magnitude 
• range 
• scale 
• scope 
• size