Widest

How to spell widest

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce widest

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does widest mean?

1. adjectiveThe greatest in width, extent, or range compared with all others.

Widest in a sentence

• The bridge spans the river at its widest point.

• This shop stocks the widest selection of paint in town.

Where does widest come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the superlative of 'wide', which comes from the Old English wid, an adjective meaning 'broad' or 'extending far in space'. The same Germanic root produced related forms in Dutch (wijd) and German (weit), all carrying the idea of something stretching out in every direction. From early times English added the suffix -est to compare the highest degree of a quality, so wid plus -est naturally gave widest. The spelling stays regular because the silent 'e' of 'wide' is dropped before the suffix, leaving a single 'd', which is why writers should not double the consonant. Even the figurative senses, as in the widest range of choices, descend straight from that original sense of physical breadth.

How the word is built

• wid- (from Old English wid: broad, far-reaching)
• -est (superlative suffix)