Broadens

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Increases the physical width or extent of something ; extends the scope or range of an area or concept
2. Widens the distance from side to side ; enlarges the breadth or inclusiveness of a subject or influence
3. Makes something more spacious or ample in size ; broadens the coverage or range of ideas or territory

Etymology: Broaden is a plain formation, and its history is simply the adjective "broad" with a verbal suffix attached. "Broad" comes from Old English "brād," which meant flat, spread out, or wide across, the sense of its ancestors in Germanic. Middle English had "brod," which later settled into the modern spelling. Adding "-en," an old English suffix that turns adjectives into verbs (as in "harden," "sweeten," and "lengthen"), produced "broaden," which means to make something wider. "Broadens" is the third-person singular form of this verb, used with he, she, or it, as in "the river broadens past the bridge." The verb itself is the one that carries the history: a word for flatness and width, given a verb ending so that it can describe the action of widening.

Synonyms: expands, widen, enlarges

Antonyms: narrows, contracts