broad

pronunciation

How to pronounce broad in British English: UK [brɔːd] word uk audio image

How to pronounce broad in American English: US [brɔːd] word us audio image

Noun:

slang term for a woman
Adjective:

having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
broad in scope or content
not detailed or specific
lacking subtlety; obvious
being at a peak or culminating point
very large in expanse or scope
(of speech) heavily and noticeably regional
showing or characterized by broad-mindedness

Word Origin

broad: broad: [OE] Broad’s close relatives are widespread in the Germanic languages (German breit, for example, Dutch breed, and Swedish bred), pointing to a prehistoric Germanic ancestor *braithaz, but no trace of the word is found in any non-Germanic Indo-European language. The original derived noun was brede, which was superseded in the 16th century by breadth. The 20th-century American slang noun use ‘woman’ may come from an obsolete American compound broadwife, short for abroadwife, meaning ‘woman away from her husband’; this was a term applied to female slaves in relation to their new ‘masters’.=> breadth

broad (adj.): Old English brad "broad, flat, open, extended," from Proto-Germanic *braithaz (cognates: Old Frisian bred, Old Norse breiðr, Dutch breed, German breit, Gothic brouþs), which is of unknown origin. Not found outside Germanic languages. No clear distinction in sense from wide. Related: Broadly. Broad-brim as a style of hat (1680s, broad-brimmed) in 18c.-19c. suggested "Quaker male" from their characteristic attire.

broad (n.): "woman," slang, 1911, perhaps suggestive of broad (adj.) hips, but it also might trace to American English abroadwife, word for a woman (often a slave) away from her husband. Earliest use of the slang word suggests immorality or coarse, low-class women. Because of this negative association, and the rise of women's athletics, the track and field broad jump was changed to the long jump c. 1967.

adj.

adj.