broadness
(ˈbrɔːdnɪs)
[f. as broadly adv. + -ness.]
The state or quality of being broad; breadth.
1. lit. (Now mostly superseded by breadth.)
| 1388 Wyclif Deut. xxxiii. 20 Gad is blessid in broodnesse. 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. C vij b, And it be dyuidid after the longnes or after the brodenes. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 245 Infynyte..in depnes, heyght, brodnesse & length. 1643 J. Steer tr. Exp. Chyrurg. xvi. 66 About the broadnesse of the palme of the hand. 1730 Magna Brit. V. 805/1 Bretford..hath its Name from the Broadness of the Ford..over the Avon. |
2. fig. Plainness of speech; coarseness, indelicacy.
| a 1700 Dryden (J.), I have used the cleanest metaphor I could find, to palliate the broadness of the meaning. 1861 Craik Hist. Eng. Lit. I. 524 (L.) Broadness and indelicacy of allusion. |