wide

Modern English wide comes from Old English wīd "broad, spacious, extensive," from Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, from PIE *h₂weyd- meaning "to separate, to divide, to be distant." The semantic path runs from "separated" to "far apart" to "broad." The same root in its zero-grade form gave Latin vidua "bereft, widowed" (one separated from a spouse), producing English widow. Sanskrit vitará- "further" also descends from this root. Within Germanic, German weit "wide, far" and Old Norse víðr "wide" are direct cognates; the Norse form survives in the name Viðarr and in compounds like víðsýni "wide vision." English derivatives include width (a relatively late back-formation), widespread, and the archaic wite "to depart." The connection between wide and widow — both from the concept of separation — is one of etymology's more poignant discoveries.