Overspread

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əʊvəˈspɹɛd/

Definitions

1. To cover or extend over a surface or area completely
2. To extend across a surface thoroughly, covering it entirely and enveloping the area in question
3. To extend broadly over a surface or an area until it is fully covered

Etymology: "Overspread" is a plain compound: the prefix "over-" attached to "spread," meaning to spread across or cover something. The verb came into English from Middle English "overspreden," which itself descends from Old English "ofersprǣdan," so the pairing is more than a thousand years old in English. Its closest relatives are found across the Germanic languages, with Dutch "overspreiden" and German "überspreiten" both carrying the same sense of covering a surface entirely. The verb's core idea is simply one of spreading, extended a step further. "Spread" traces back to the notion of stretching something out flat, and "over-" adds the sense of extending across the top of or throughout a surface or area. So the word describes something that lies across an entire space until nothing is left uncovered, such as a blanket of frost over a field or a rumour across a town.

Synonyms: cover, blanket, spread over