Extensive

How to spell extensive

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce extensive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does extensive mean?

1. adjectiveCovering a large area or range; wide in scope, amount, or detail.

Extensive in a sentence

• The report required extensive research across several departments.

• The estate included extensive grounds and a private lake.

Where does extensive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb extendere, which literally meant 'to stretch out', formed from ex- 'out' and tendere 'to stretch'. The past-participle stem gave the Late Latin adjective extensivus, describing something with the quality of stretching or spreading out. English adopted it in the late 1300s and 1400s, partly through Old French, first in technical senses about physical extent and later in the everyday meaning of 'large in range or scope'. The same tendere root quietly underlies a whole family of English words such as 'tension', 'extend', 'tent' (a stretched canvas), and 'intense', all sharing that idea of stretching. Remembering that the middle is the 'tens' of 'tension', not 'tence', helps fix the spelling of extensive.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• tens (from tendere: to stretch)
• -ive (adjective suffix)