breadth

/brɛθ/

/brɛθ/

Other forms: breadths

If you measure the distance of an object from side to side, you are measuring the object’s breadth: “Theodore measured the breadth of the table before buying it to make sure it would fit in his small kitchen.”

Breadth often refers to a physical measurement, but it can also be used to describe comprehensiveness or largeness of any kind, such as breadth of knowledge or breadth of experience. In the famous sentence describing Macedonian king Alexander the Great, the word breadth is used to indicate the vastness of Alexander’s empire: “When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.”

Definitions of breadth

1. noun

   the extent of something from side to side
   synonyms: width

   types:

   broadness, wideness

   the property of being wide; having great width

   beam

   (nautical) breadth amidships

   narrowness

   the property of being narrow; having little width

   heaviness, thickness

   used of a line or mark

   fineness, thinness

   the property of being very narrow or thin

   type of:

   dimension

   the magnitude of something in a particular direction (especially length or width or height)
2. noun

   the capacity to understand a broad range of topics
   “a teacher must have a breadth of knowledge of the subject”

   synonyms: comprehensiveness, largeness

   types:

   capaciousness, roominess

   intellectual breadth

   type of:

   intelligence

   the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience