Broadened

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Made something wider or larger in scope or extent
2. Expanded the range, size, or coverage of something
3. Increased the breadth, width, or overall extent of an area or concept

Etymology: "Broadened" is the past tense of "broaden," which is simply "broad" with the verbal suffix "-en" added. That suffix, which turns adjectives into verbs meaning "to make or become" the quality named, is very old in English, and "broad" itself traces back through Old English "brād" to Proto-Germanic "braidaz," meaning "spread out" or "wide." The verb's sense has widened over time just as the word describes. "Broaden" once applied mainly to physical width, making something literally wider, but it came to cover abstract growth as well, such as broadening one's knowledge, a company's market, or a debate's scope. The past tense "broadened" therefore reports that something's range or coverage has grown, whether the thing measured is a river, a curriculum, or a set of ideas.

Synonyms: expanded, widened, enlarged, stretched, increased

Antonyms: narrowed, contracted, reduced, diminished, limited