Bespread

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To extend or distribute something over a wide area or surface
2. To cover or lay out something across a large area or surface
3. To distribute or arrange an item broadly over an expanse

Etymology: "Bespread" is a verb meaning to spread over something widely, and it is built from the prefix "be-" plus "spread." The prefix in older English often carried the sense of acting upon something thoroughly or all over, so "bespread" roughly means to spread across the whole surface of a thing. This is the same process behind verbs like "besprinkle" and "bedaub." The word came into English in Middle English as "bispreden," and its roots lie in the Germanic languages of the Low Countries and northern Germany. Dutch "bespreiden" and Middle Low German "bespreden" show the same construction, so the verb appears to have been a shared Germanic formation, with English one of several languages that combined the prefix with a verb of spreading.