Expansive

How to spell expansive

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce expansive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does expansive mean?

1. adjectiveCovering a large area or a wide range; extensive in scope.
2. adjectiveOpen, warm, and communicative in manner; generous and free in expression.

Expansive in a sentence

• The penthouse offered an expansive view across the whole city.

• After a good meal he became relaxed and expansive with the guests.

• The report took an expansive look at the company's finances.

• Her expansive welcome made the new staff feel instantly at ease.

Where does expansive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb expandere, which meant 'to spread out' or 'to unfold', formed from the prefix ex- 'out' and the verb pandere 'to spread'. Late Latin developed the related form expansus, the past participle, from which the noun 'expansion' grew. English took 'expansive' in the 1600s, first in fairly literal scientific senses about gases and forces that tend to spread or push outward. From there the meaning widened: a thing covering a great area became 'expansive', and by extension a person who was open, talkative, and generous in spirit could be described the same way. The same pandere root quietly sits inside 'expand', 'expanse', and even 'compass', and remembering the buried 'pand' helps explain why the word is spelled with that single, easily blurred -nsive ending.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• pand (from Latin pandere: to spread)
• -ive (adjective suffix)