Abroad

How to spell abroad

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce abroad

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does abroad mean?

1. adverbIn or to a foreign country, away from one's home nation.

Abroad in a sentence

• The company sent her abroad to manage its new office in Tokyo.

• They spent two years living abroad before returning home.

Where does abroad come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Abroad comes from Old English roots, formed from the prefix 'a-', a worn-down form of 'on' meaning 'in' or 'into a state of', combined with 'broad', which meant 'wide' or 'spread out over a large area'. In Middle English the phrase appeared as 'abrood' or 'on brede', literally describing something scattered or spread wide, so an early sense was simply 'widely' or 'out and about'. From the idea of being out in the wider world, the word narrowed to mean being away from home, and by the 1400s it had taken on its now-dominant meaning of being in or going to a foreign country. The 'broad' inside it is the same everyday adjective we still use for a wide road or a broad smile, which is a useful reminder that the spelling ends in -oad and not the -oard of 'aboard'. That single-letter difference is the main trap, since 'abroad' (in another country) and 'aboard' (on a ship or plane) sound and look alarmingly similar.

How the word is built

• a- (on, to)
• broad (wide, spread out)