widenessn.

Brit.

/ˈwʌɪdnᵻs/, U.S.

/ˈwaɪdnᵻs/

Forms:

α. see wide adj. and -ness suffix.

β. 1500s wydnes, 1500s wydnesse, 1500s–1600s widnes, 1500s–1600s widnesse, 1600s (1800s English regional (northern)) widness; Scottish pre-1700 widnes, pre-1700 vidnes, pre-1700 wydnes, pre-1700 wednes.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: wide adj., -ness suffix.

Etymology: < wide adj. + -ness suffix. Compare wide n. and later width n.The β. forms probably reflect early Middle English shortening of the stem vowel, which is not distinguished in spelling at an earlier date; similar Middle English forms are ambiguous as to vowel length and have been regarded as examples of the α. forms.

a. Measurement from side to side; width; diameter, breadth. Also occasionally: measurement of the extent to which something opens, or of the distance between two things. Now somewhat rare (generally replaced by width n. 1a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > [noun]

bredeeOE

widenessOE

wideOE

latitude1398

broada1400

broadnessa1425

largeness?a1425

breadth1459

width1570

largitude1590

cross1630

the world > space > distance > [noun] > distance apart

wideness1551

width1570

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xl. 336 Þæt tempel [sc. Salomon's] wæs on lenge sixtig fæðma, on widnysse twentig fæðma, on heahnysse ðritig fæðma.

OE Note on Solomon's Temple (Harl. 3271) in Eng. Stud. (2012) 93 643 Þæs temples længe wæs syxtig fæðma, & seo widnes wæs twentig fæþma, & his heahnys wæs þrityg fæþma.

c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 24 (MED) Thow shalt make a cercle..of the same widnesse in circumference in diametre.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 62 (MED) Þei maken þer abitis myche boþe in widnesse and sidnesse.

?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 42 (MED) Þis temple has lxiiii cubites of wydeness.

1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 39 The seid dore to be maad as large of wydnesse as may be.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ezek. xl. 11 He measured the wydenesse of the dore: which was x cubites, & the heyth of the dore xiij cubites.

1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. sig. C.ij.^v Open your compasse to the wydenes of those ij. new prickes.

1618 M. Baret Hipponomie i. 20 His legges must carry such an equi-distance in widenesse that they may describe two parallel lines in their motions.

1668 Philos. Trans. 1667 (Royal Soc.) 2 604 To every Vowel belongs a peculiar dimension of Wideness in the Mouth.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. vii. 309/1 They are of severall widnesses.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. i. 8 A small Creek, about three times the wideness of my Canoe.

1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. v. 175 The furrow that the plough makes, will be, below, equal in wideness to B C, and, above, to N D.

1830 W. Scott Hist. Scotl. I. xxi. 406 She was twelve score feet in length, and thirty-six in wideness.

1880 Bibliotheca Mexicana 125 The general condition of both works in wideness of margin and general clearness, makes them in every way desirable copies.

1975 S. Carlquist Ecol. Strategies of Xylem Evol. 87 Root tracheids would tend, by virtue of length and wideness, to have greater conductivity.

†b. concrete. An opening, aperture, or cavity. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun]

holec725

thirla900

eyeOE

opena1200

opening?c1225

overturec1400

overta1425

wideness?c1425

howe1487

hiatus1563

vent1594

apertion1599

ferme1612

notch1615

sluice1648

gape1658

aperture1661

want1664

door1665

hiulcitya1681

to pass through the eye of a needle (also a needle's eye)1720

vista1727

light1776

ope1832

lacuna1872

doughnut hole1886

?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 194 (MED) Depe woundes..haue nede to be openede aȝeyne for þe humoure þe whiche is gadred togedre in þe botme and in his wydenesse [L. spaciositate].

?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 163 (MED) Ydropisis..is an aposteme and bolnynge of þe wombe gendred of a watry and wyndy mater wiþyn þe wydenesse of þe wombe by errour of þe vertu digestyf of þe lyuer.

1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 443/1 Vulneris os,..the mouth, opening, or widenesse of a wound.

1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xiii. 218 To close the wideness of a wound.

1627 G. Hakewill Apologie iii. v. 191 The gaping widenesse of the wound..was found by measure to be foure foote & an halfe.

†c. More generally: size or amount; extent of time. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > duration > [noun]

lengtha1240

date?1316

durationc1384

hautesse1399

quantity?a1425

periodc1475

tracta1513

allowance1526

continuance1530

wideness1535

continue1556

protense1590

countenance1592

stay1595

standing1600

dimension1605

longanimity1607

longinquity1607

insisture1609

existence1615

unprivationa1628

continuity1646

protension1654

measure1658

course1665

contention1666

propagation1741

protensity1886

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun]

greatness1381

measurea1382

quantitya1387

muchnessa1398

sizea1400

largec1400

micklec1400

moisonc1400

of suingc1400

bignessc1475

assize1481

proportions1481

bodya1500

dimension1529

measuring1529

wideness1535

bind1551

corporance1570

magnitude1570

mickledom1596

amplitude1599

breadth1609

extendure1613

extension1614

extent1623

extensure1631

dimense1632

dimensity1655

bulkiness1674

bulksomeness1674

admeasurement1754

calliper1819

acreage1846

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 3 Kings vii. E After this maner made he ten molten seates, one maner of measure & widenes was in all.

1657 W. Rand tr. P. Gassendi Mirrour of Nobility ii. 134 The Romans..ordained that their Congius (or Gallon) should be in widnesse half a Cubick foot.

1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 211 It still leaves his Age undetermined, within the wideness of xxxx years.

a. The quality of having great spatial extent, esp. horizontally; vastness, spaciousness.In later use perhaps influenced by sense 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun] > vast extent

widenessc1225

largenessa1400

ampleness1509

breadth1532

spaciousness1587

vastness1602

vastity1603

vastiditya1616

spaciosity1620

vastitude1623

latitude1650

immensity1797

c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 40 Þe widnesse of þe worlde.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xiv. lv. 724 Bycause of wydnes þerof it [sc. a cave] [is] an able place to abyd ynne.

a1450 Castle of Love (Bodl. Add.) (1967) 1756 Of heuyn he may ise þe wydnes, The feyrshepe and þe heynes.

?1540 tr. Erasmus Dialoge Two Persons sig. Diiij Me. Is there no maruayle to be sene. Ogy. Nothynge but the greate wydnes of the place.

1596 E. Spenser View State Ireland 93 Though otherwise the widenes of the mountaine pasturage doe recompence the badnes of the soyle.

1610 R. Gibbons tr. L. de la Puente Meditat. Myst. Holy Faith i. 157 I desire curiousnesse of apparell, softenesse of bed, and widenesse of habitation.

1653 Strange Wonder World 5 Certain Labourers digging of Chalke at the foot of a Hill, discovered a Cave of wonderous widenesse, in which was a Light burning.

1740 C. Cibber Apol. Life C. Cibber x. 193 The immoderate Wideness of their House.

1860 H. Law Christ is All 160 The world in its vast wideness perishes untaught.

1883 American 7 55 He will probably..muse on the wideness of this world.

1941 Wyoming: Guide to Hist. & People (Federal Writers' Project) (1956) ii. 195 Spacious lawns and yards, low-built houses, and wide streets continue within the city the impression of the prairie's wideness.

2007 H. Mirren In the Frame (2011) 46 The strange colourful beauty of those mud flats, the wideness of the sky.

b. concrete. A wide or open space or region; a vast expanse. Cf. width n. 4. Now somewhat rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out > an expanse of something

spacea1382

widenessa1382

continuance1398

field1547

sheet1593

universe1598

main1609

reach1610

expansion1611

extent1627

champaign1656

fetch1662

mass1662

expanse1667

spread1712

run1719

width1733

acre1759

sweep1767

contiguity1785

extension1786

stretch1829

breadths1839

outspread1847

outstretch1858

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 2 Kings xxii. 20 He ladde me out in to wijdnesse [L. latitudinem] & delyuerde me.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. viii. B He shal fyl also the wydenesse of thy londe w^t his brode wynges.

1585 C. Fetherston tr. J. Calvin Comm. Actes Apostles xvi. 6 In that confused widenesse God beckened vnto him..how far he would haue him goe, or whither.

c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xcvi. 32 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 145 Sea and all thy widnesse yeldeth.

1631 T. Hawkins tr. N. Caussin Holy Court II. 562 A river, which having broken his banks, poureth it self with a victorious current in the wideness of his channel.

1681 Whole Duty of Nations 14 A Nation..is a part of Mankind canton'd..from the whole world, and the wideness of that.

1721 S. M. Treat. Plague 14 When these Streams move uninterrupted in the Widenesses of the Country, they have liberty to expand themselves every Step.

1817 J. Keats On Sea 9 Oh ye! who have your eye-balls vex'd and tir'd, Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea.

1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton King Arthur (new ed.) I. xi. cxxxii. 214 Lost in the wideness of the weltering Sea.

1901 C. F. Embree Heart of Flame xi. 177 Faith..flickered out thus in the night. The vast wideness and silence diffused it, swallowed it up.

1923 M. Synon in B. C. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories of 1923 (1924) 193 He had led him down a winding way past the Marshall statue and into the deserted wideness of Pennsylvania Avenue.

2002 A. Burl Prehistoric Avebury (ed. 2) Introd. The widenesses of Savernake forest.

3. The quality of measuring a great distance from side to side; large or more than average width. Also: the state or quality of being opened widely or to the full extent. Opposed to narrowness.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > [noun] > great extent across

widenessa1398

widtha1626

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxxix. 247 Galyen seiþ a token of þe lyuour whanne he is hoot is largenes and widnes of þe veynes, nouȝt of puls.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. xlviij^v Therfore was erected an Arche of widnes at the tournelles besyde the strete.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 46 Quhais Wydnes of his banes and gretnes teiches that he was xiiii. fute lang.

a1642 R. Callis Reading of Statute of Sewers (1647) ii. 82 Wideness and shallowness of the..Streams.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1656 (1955) III. 180 The staire case of extraordinary widenesse.

1713 P. Kennedy Ophthalmographia ii. xxxvi. 95 In this case it is generally of a whiter Colour, which, with the wideness of the Pupil, may easily be distinguished.

1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. III. xxxv. 486 The wideness or narrowness of the pump.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Widness, width.

1841 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 4 195/1 The wideness of their mouths gives them a firm seat in the gallery.

1923 D. H. Lawrence Ladybird, Fox, Captain's Doll 112 The shrewish look was contradicted by the curious lifted arch of her dark brows, and the wideness of her eyes; a look of startled wonder and vagueness.

1952 J. M. Goggin Space & Time Perspective in N. St. Johns Archeol. (1998) 17 On the river the subarea is physiographically noteworthy for the wideness of the stream.

2000 A. Reed Under Pressure 404 The shirt emphasized the wideness of his shoulders.

4. Largeness of scope or reach; the quality of encompassing, including, or affecting a great number of people or things; comprehensiveness.In quot. 1551: breadth of meaning.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [noun]

generalty?c1400

generality?a1425

wideness?a1425

generalness1561

the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > extent or extension of meaning > [noun]

wideness?a1425

extent1656

extension1725

?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 171 (MED) Aȝeins þe envie of hem, þe wydnes and þe brede of her charite schyneth.

1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Eiij^v The diuision..ought to be made with twoo contrary differences, fully containyng in them self the whole cumpasse or widenes of the generall worde.

1611 R. Bolton Disc. State True Happinesse 55 Out of this widenes of conscience proceed much mincing and excusing.

1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) ii. 87 The puritie, spiritualnesse, and widenesse of that Law which they have sworne unto.

1797–1803 J. Foster Jrnl. in Life & Corr. J. Foster (1846) I. 225 A wideness of compass without solidity and exactness.

1862 F. W. Faber Hymns v. 289 There's a wideness in God's mercy, Like the wideness of the sea.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. xii. 242 The merest varnish of Roman culture had given..a wideness of range to their thoughts.

1895 Art Jrnl. 82/1 Beyond them all in wideness of sympathy and openness of mind, is the patron of the Fine Arts.

1923 Arts Jan. 3/1 It was..the wideness of his interests that peculiarly fitted him to be a writer.

1990 V. Klinkenborg Last Fine Time vii. 187 Eddie was a pallbearer again and again, a sign of the wideness of his acquaintance.

2014 PC Pro Mar. 73/2 Some accuse the manufacturer of ‘gadget spam’, such is the wideness of its array of models and variations.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	wideness
释义	widenessn. Brit. /ˈwʌɪdnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈwaɪdnᵻs/ Forms: α. see wide adj. and -ness suffix. β. 1500s wydnes, 1500s wydnesse, 1500s–1600s widnes, 1500s–1600s widnesse, 1600s (1800s English regional (northern)) widness; Scottish pre-1700 widnes, pre-1700 vidnes, pre-1700 wydnes, pre-1700 wednes. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: wide adj., -ness suffix. Etymology: < wide adj. + -ness suffix. Compare wide n. and later width n.The β. forms probably reflect early Middle English shortening of the stem vowel, which is not distinguished in spelling at an earlier date; similar Middle English forms are ambiguous as to vowel length and have been regarded as examples of the α. forms. 1. a. Measurement from side to side; width; diameter, breadth. Also occasionally: measurement of the extent to which something opens, or of the distance between two things. Now somewhat rare (generally replaced by width n. 1a). ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > [noun] bredeeOE widenessOE wideOE latitude1398 broada1400 broadnessa1425 largeness?a1425 breadth1459 width1570 largitude1590 cross1630 the world > space > distance > [noun] > distance apart wideness1551 width1570 OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xl. 336 Þæt tempel [sc. Salomon's] wæs on lenge sixtig fæðma, on widnysse twentig fæðma, on heahnysse ðritig fæðma. OE Note on Solomon's Temple (Harl. 3271) in Eng. Stud. (2012) 93 643 Þæs temples længe wæs syxtig fæðma, & seo widnes wæs twentig fæþma, & his heahnys wæs þrityg fæþma. c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 24 (MED) Thow shalt make a cercle..of the same widnesse in circumference in diametre. a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 62 (MED) Þei maken þer abitis myche boþe in widnesse and sidnesse. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 42 (MED) Þis temple has lxiiii cubites of wydeness. 1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 39 The seid dore to be maad as large of wydnesse as may be. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ezek. xl. 11 He measured the wydenesse of the dore: which was x cubites, & the heyth of the dore xiij cubites. 1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. sig. C.ij.^v Open your compasse to the wydenes of those ij. new prickes. 1618 M. Baret Hipponomie i. 20 His legges must carry such an equi-distance in widenesse that they may describe two parallel lines in their motions. 1668 Philos. Trans. 1667 (Royal Soc.) 2 604 To every Vowel belongs a peculiar dimension of Wideness in the Mouth. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. vii. 309/1 They are of severall widnesses. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. i. 8 A small Creek, about three times the wideness of my Canoe. 1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. v. 175 The furrow that the plough makes, will be, below, equal in wideness to B C, and, above, to N D. 1830 W. Scott Hist. Scotl. I. xxi. 406 She was twelve score feet in length, and thirty-six in wideness. 1880 Bibliotheca Mexicana 125 The general condition of both works in wideness of margin and general clearness, makes them in every way desirable copies. 1975 S. Carlquist Ecol. Strategies of Xylem Evol. 87 Root tracheids would tend, by virtue of length and wideness, to have greater conductivity. †b. concrete. An opening, aperture, or cavity. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] holec725 thirla900 eyeOE opena1200 opening?c1225 overturec1400 overta1425 wideness?c1425 howe1487 hiatus1563 vent1594 apertion1599 ferme1612 notch1615 sluice1648 gape1658 aperture1661 want1664 door1665 hiulcitya1681 to pass through the eye of a needle (also a needle's eye)1720 vista1727 light1776 ope1832 lacuna1872 doughnut hole1886 ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 194 (MED) Depe woundes..haue nede to be openede aȝeyne for þe humoure þe whiche is gadred togedre in þe botme and in his wydenesse [L. spaciositate]. ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 163 (MED) Ydropisis..is an aposteme and bolnynge of þe wombe gendred of a watry and wyndy mater wiþyn þe wydenesse of þe wombe by errour of þe vertu digestyf of þe lyuer. 1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 443/1 Vulneris os,..the mouth, opening, or widenesse of a wound. 1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xiii. 218 To close the wideness of a wound. 1627 G. Hakewill Apologie iii. v. 191 The gaping widenesse of the wound..was found by measure to be foure foote & an halfe. †c. More generally: size or amount; extent of time. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > time > duration > [noun] lengtha1240 date?1316 durationc1384 hautesse1399 quantity?a1425 periodc1475 tracta1513 allowance1526 continuance1530 wideness1535 continue1556 protense1590 countenance1592 stay1595 standing1600 dimension1605 longanimity1607 longinquity1607 insisture1609 existence1615 unprivationa1628 continuity1646 protension1654 measure1658 course1665 contention1666 propagation1741 protensity1886 the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun] greatness1381 measurea1382 quantitya1387 muchnessa1398 sizea1400 largec1400 micklec1400 moisonc1400 of suingc1400 bignessc1475 assize1481 proportions1481 bodya1500 dimension1529 measuring1529 wideness1535 bind1551 corporance1570 magnitude1570 mickledom1596 amplitude1599 breadth1609 extendure1613 extension1614 extent1623 extensure1631 dimense1632 dimensity1655 bulkiness1674 bulksomeness1674 admeasurement1754 calliper1819 acreage1846 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 3 Kings vii. E After this maner made he ten molten seates, one maner of measure & widenes was in all. 1657 W. Rand tr. P. Gassendi Mirrour of Nobility ii. 134 The Romans..ordained that their Congius (or Gallon) should be in widnesse half a Cubick foot. 1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 211 It still leaves his Age undetermined, within the wideness of xxxx years. 2. a. The quality of having great spatial extent, esp. horizontally; vastness, spaciousness.In later use perhaps influenced by sense 3. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun] > vast extent widenessc1225 largenessa1400 ampleness1509 breadth1532 spaciousness1587 vastness1602 vastity1603 vastiditya1616 spaciosity1620 vastitude1623 latitude1650 immensity1797 c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 40 Þe widnesse of þe worlde. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xiv. lv. 724 Bycause of wydnes þerof it [sc. a cave] [is] an able place to abyd ynne. a1450 Castle of Love (Bodl. Add.) (1967) 1756 Of heuyn he may ise þe wydnes, The feyrshepe and þe heynes. ?1540 tr. Erasmus Dialoge Two Persons sig. Diiij Me. Is there no maruayle to be sene. Ogy. Nothynge but the greate wydnes of the place. 1596 E. Spenser View State Ireland 93 Though otherwise the widenes of the mountaine pasturage doe recompence the badnes of the soyle. 1610 R. Gibbons tr. L. de la Puente Meditat. Myst. Holy Faith i. 157 I desire curiousnesse of apparell, softenesse of bed, and widenesse of habitation. 1653 Strange Wonder World 5 Certain Labourers digging of Chalke at the foot of a Hill, discovered a Cave of wonderous widenesse, in which was a Light burning. 1740 C. Cibber Apol. Life C. Cibber x. 193 The immoderate Wideness of their House. 1860 H. Law Christ is All 160 The world in its vast wideness perishes untaught. 1883 American 7 55 He will probably..muse on the wideness of this world. 1941 Wyoming: Guide to Hist. & People (Federal Writers' Project) (1956) ii. 195 Spacious lawns and yards, low-built houses, and wide streets continue within the city the impression of the prairie's wideness. 2007 H. Mirren In the Frame (2011) 46 The strange colourful beauty of those mud flats, the wideness of the sky. b. concrete. A wide or open space or region; a vast expanse. Cf. width n. 4. Now somewhat rare. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out > an expanse of something spacea1382 widenessa1382 continuance1398 field1547 sheet1593 universe1598 main1609 reach1610 expansion1611 extent1627 champaign1656 fetch1662 mass1662 expanse1667 spread1712 run1719 width1733 acre1759 sweep1767 contiguity1785 extension1786 stretch1829 breadths1839 outspread1847 outstretch1858 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 2 Kings xxii. 20 He ladde me out in to wijdnesse [L. latitudinem] & delyuerde me. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. viii. B He shal fyl also the wydenesse of thy londe w^t his brode wynges. 1585 C. Fetherston tr. J. Calvin Comm. Actes Apostles xvi. 6 In that confused widenesse God beckened vnto him..how far he would haue him goe, or whither. c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xcvi. 32 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 145 Sea and all thy widnesse yeldeth. 1631 T. Hawkins tr. N. Caussin Holy Court II. 562 A river, which having broken his banks, poureth it self with a victorious current in the wideness of his channel. 1681 Whole Duty of Nations 14 A Nation..is a part of Mankind canton'd..from the whole world, and the wideness of that. 1721 S. M. Treat. Plague 14 When these Streams move uninterrupted in the Widenesses of the Country, they have liberty to expand themselves every Step. 1817 J. Keats On Sea 9 Oh ye! who have your eye-balls vex'd and tir'd, Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea. 1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton King Arthur (new ed.) I. xi. cxxxii. 214 Lost in the wideness of the weltering Sea. 1901 C. F. Embree Heart of Flame xi. 177 Faith..flickered out thus in the night. The vast wideness and silence diffused it, swallowed it up. 1923 M. Synon in B. C. Williams O. Henry Prize Stories of 1923 (1924) 193 He had led him down a winding way past the Marshall statue and into the deserted wideness of Pennsylvania Avenue. 2002 A. Burl Prehistoric Avebury (ed. 2) Introd. The widenesses of Savernake forest. 3. The quality of measuring a great distance from side to side; large or more than average width. Also: the state or quality of being opened widely or to the full extent. Opposed to narrowness. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > breadth or width > [noun] > great extent across widenessa1398 widtha1626 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxxix. 247 Galyen seiþ a token of þe lyuour whanne he is hoot is largenes and widnes of þe veynes, nouȝt of puls. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. xlviij^v Therfore was erected an Arche of widnes at the tournelles besyde the strete. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 46 Quhais Wydnes of his banes and gretnes teiches that he was xiiii. fute lang. a1642 R. Callis Reading of Statute of Sewers (1647) ii. 82 Wideness and shallowness of the..Streams. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1656 (1955) III. 180 The staire case of extraordinary widenesse. 1713 P. Kennedy Ophthalmographia ii. xxxvi. 95 In this case it is generally of a whiter Colour, which, with the wideness of the Pupil, may easily be distinguished. 1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. III. xxxv. 486 The wideness or narrowness of the pump. 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Widness, width. 1841 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 4 195/1 The wideness of their mouths gives them a firm seat in the gallery. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Ladybird, Fox, Captain's Doll 112 The shrewish look was contradicted by the curious lifted arch of her dark brows, and the wideness of her eyes; a look of startled wonder and vagueness. 1952 J. M. Goggin Space & Time Perspective in N. St. Johns Archeol. (1998) 17 On the river the subarea is physiographically noteworthy for the wideness of the stream. 2000 A. Reed Under Pressure 404 The shirt emphasized the wideness of his shoulders. 4. Largeness of scope or reach; the quality of encompassing, including, or affecting a great number of people or things; comprehensiveness.In quot. 1551: breadth of meaning. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [noun] generalty?c1400 generality?a1425 wideness?a1425 generalness1561 the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > extent or extension of meaning > [noun] wideness?a1425 extent1656 extension1725 ?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 171 (MED) Aȝeins þe envie of hem, þe wydnes and þe brede of her charite schyneth. 1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Eiij^v The diuision..ought to be made with twoo contrary differences, fully containyng in them self the whole cumpasse or widenes of the generall worde. 1611 R. Bolton Disc. State True Happinesse 55 Out of this widenes of conscience proceed much mincing and excusing. 1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) ii. 87 The puritie, spiritualnesse, and widenesse of that Law which they have sworne unto. 1797–1803 J. Foster Jrnl. in Life & Corr. J. Foster (1846) I. 225 A wideness of compass without solidity and exactness. 1862 F. W. Faber Hymns v. 289 There's a wideness in God's mercy, Like the wideness of the sea. 1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. xii. 242 The merest varnish of Roman culture had given..a wideness of range to their thoughts. 1895 Art Jrnl. 82/1 Beyond them all in wideness of sympathy and openness of mind, is the patron of the Fine Arts. 1923 Arts Jan. 3/1 It was..the wideness of his interests that peculiarly fitted him to be a writer. 1990 V. Klinkenborg Last Fine Time vii. 187 Eddie was a pallbearer again and again, a sign of the wideness of his acquaintance. 2014 PC Pro Mar. 73/2 Some accuse the manufacturer of ‘gadget spam’, such is the wideness of its array of models and variations. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.OE
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