span

See also: Appendix:Variations of "span"

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend-der.
Proto-Germanic *spannō
Old English spann
Middle English spanne
English span

    From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spannō (“span, handbreadth”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”).[1]

    Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. Noun sense 8 is probably from Old English ġespan, ġespann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic. Cognate with Dutch gespan and German Gespann.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    span (plural spans)

    2. The full width of an open hand, from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger, used as an informal unit of length.
    4. Any of various traditional units of length approximating this distance; especially:
      • 2003 [1605], Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Edith Grossman, Don Quixote, page 109, translation of Don Quixote (in Spanish):
        The truth is that the charm of her body made up for her other faults: she measured less than 7 spans from her feet to the top of her head, and her back, which weighed somewhat heavily on her, forced her to look down at the ground more than she would have wished.
        The translation contains a footnote: "A span is approximately eight inches".
      2. The English handspan, equivalent to 9 inches or 22.86 cm.
    6. (by extension) A small space or a brief moment of time.
      attention span
      He has a short attention span and gets bored within minutes.
    8. A segment or portion of space or time; a subsequence.
      • 2004, Robert Harris, Robert Warner, The Definitive Guide to SWT and JFace, page 759:
        For example, in OpenOffice.org or Microsoft Word, each span of text can have a style that defines key characteristics about the text: • What font it uses • Whether it's normal, bolded, italicized, […]
      2. (computing) The time required to execute a parallel algorithm on an infinite number of processors.
        • 2017, Ananya Kumar, Guy E. Blelloch, Robert Harper, “Parallel Functional Arrays”, in ACM SIGPLAN Notices, →DOI:
          We use the term span (also called depth, or dependence depth) to refer to the number of parallel steps assuming an unbounded number of processors.
    10. (architecture, construction) The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
      • 1961 January, “Talking of Trains: The Severn Bridge disaster”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5:
        The force of the explosion demolished one pair of piers and two spans of the bridge crashed down into the river on top of the barges.
    12. (architecture, construction) The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
    14. (nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
    16. (US, Canada, collective) A pair of horses or other animals driven or sold together; usually, such a pair of horses usually being similar in color, form, and action.
      • 2022, Lester Bernard Dent, The Thousand-Headed Man: A Doc Savage Adventure‎[1], DigiCat:
        A span of water buffalo, terrified out of their usual lethargy by sight of the plane, stampeded, pursued by a swearing and scarcely less terrified Hindu farmer.
      • 2016, Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study‎[2], Ravenio Books:
        A span of goats harnessed to a cart is second only to ponies, in a child's estimation; therefore, the beginning of this lesson may well be a span of goats thus employed.
      • 1872, Marcus D. Hanover, A Practical Treatise on the Law of Horses, Embracing the Law of Bargain, Sale, and Warranty of Horses and Other Live Stock‎[3], R. Clarke & Company, page 111:
        This was an action for a breach of warranty upon the sale of a span of horses.
      • 1837 November 11, Franklin Farmer‎[4], volumes 1-2, F.D. Pettit, page 82:
        When good oxen are worth 80 or 85 dollars a yoke, a span of horses at the same comparative rate of value will cost from $180 to $200.
      • 1853, John Lauris Blake, The Farmer's Every-day Book, Or, Sketches of Social Life in the Country‎[5], Derby and Miller:
        a span of horses costing two hundred dollars will last ten years, and then be worthless
      • 1913 December, Nancy Darling, The Vermonter‎[6], volumes 18-19, Charles S. Forbes, page 258:
        Float, covered with pieces of woolen cloth from the mill, decorated with flags and bunting, drawn by a span of white horses and a span of black ones covered with white woolen blankets
    18. (linear algebra) Ellipsis of linear span: a linear subspace generated by all linear combinations of a given subset of vectors of a given vector space.
    20. Clipping of wingspan.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    See also

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English spannen, from Old English spannan, from Proto-Germanic *spannaną (“to stretch, span”). Cognate with German spannen, Dutch spannen.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    span (third-person singular simple present spans, present participle spanning, simple past and past participle spanned) (transitive)

    2. To extend across (a gap or space between two sides).
      The suspension bridge spanned the canyon.
      • 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
        The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.
      • 2023 March 8, “Network News: Grant for repairs at Gaunless Bridge”, in RAIL, number 978, page 9:
        Completed in 1823, Gaunless Bridge was designed by George Stephenson to span the River Gaunless in West Auckland, forming part of a line serving Witton Park Colliery.
    4. To cover or extend over (an area or distance).
      The parking lot spans three acres.
      The forest spans the entire valley.
    6. To extend through (a period of time).
      The novel spans three centuries.
      His career spanned five decades.
    8. To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.
      to span a space or distance; to span a cylinder
    10. (linear algebra) To generate a linear span.
    12. (intransitive, US, dated, of horses) To be matched.
    14. (of a horse) To fetter; to hobble.
      • 1972, Mountain, numbers 20-24, page 22:
        We spanned the dogs high up a corrie to the south of the ridge […]
    Translations

    Etymology 3

    From Middle English span, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spann, first and third person singular preterit indicative of Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”).

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    span

    1. (dated, now uncommon) simple past of spin
    Alternative forms
    Derived terms

    See also

    • span-new (probably etymologically unrelated)

    References

    1. ^ “span”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    Dutch

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /spɑn/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: span
    • Rhymes: -ɑn

    Etymology 1

    From older gespan.

    Noun

    span n (plural spannen, diminutive spannetje n)

    1. a span, a team (pair or larger team of draught animals) [from 17th c.]
    2. a cart or instrument with a team of draught animals [from 18th c.]
    3. a romantic pair, couple [from 19th c.]
    Derived terms
    Descendants
    • Afrikaans: span

    Etymology 2

    From spannen.

    Noun

    span m or f (plural spannen, diminutive spannetje n)

    1. (dated) span (distance between extended thumb and little finger)
    2. (dated) span (interval of space or time)
    Alternative forms
    Derived terms
    • spanwijdte

    Etymology 3

    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Verb

    span

    1. inflection of spannen:
      1. first-person singular present indicative
      2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
      3. imperative

    Anagrams

    Icelandic

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈspaːn]

    Noun

    span n (genitive singular spans, no plural)

    1. hurry, haste
    2. (physics) induction

    Declension

    Declension of span (sg-only neuter)
    singular
    indefinite definite
    nominative span spanið
    accusative span spanið
    dative spani spaninu
    genitive spans spansins

    Further reading

    Manado Malay

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Dutch spannen (“to stretch”), from Middle Dutch spannen, from Old Dutch *spannan, from Proto-Germanic *spannaną.

    Adjective

    span

    1. tight

    References

    • Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara (2021), Kamus Dwibahasa Melayu Manado-Indonesia (in Indonesian), Manado: Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara

    Middle English

    Noun

    span

    1. alternative form of spanne

    Sranan Tongo

    Etymology

    From Dutch spannen.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /spaŋ/, /span/, [spã̠ŋ], [spɑ̟ŋ]

    Adjective

    span

    1. exciting
    2. angry, displeased
    3. busy, crowded
    4. tight, taut
    5. tense, stressed
    6. loaded, crammed
    7. (of a projectile weapon) loaded, armed

    Noun

    span

    1. tension
    2. excitement

    Verb

    span

    1. to stretch out
    2. to tighten
    3. to crowd
    4. to suffer stress, to be agitated
    5. to be exciting
      • 1981, Thea Doelwijt, Prisiri stari. De pretster. Wan komedi-pré gi pikin. Een theaterspel voor kinderen [The star of joy. A theatre play for children]‎[8], Paramaribo: Eldoradoboek, →ISBN, archived from the original on 2 March 2026, page 114:
        Ini 1974 te kon miti a srefidensi foe Sranan (1975), a Doe-Theater pré: Libi Span ini na ati joe[sic – meaning foe] Sranan - wan totaal-theater-pré, pe singi, pokoe, dansi nanga pré moksi kon na wan, èn pe den someni koeltoeroe foe Sranan ben e begi foe a krakti foe Mama Sranan.
        [Ini 1974 te kon miti a srefidensi fu Sranan (1975), a Doe-Theater prei: Libi Span ini na ati fu Sranan - wan totaal-theater-prei, pe singi, poku, dansi nanga prei moksi kon na wan, èn pe den someni kulturu fu Sranan ben e begi fu a krakti fu Mama Sranan.]
        In 1974 until the independence of Suriname (1975), the Doe-Theater performed: Life's Exciting in the Heart of Suriname - a total-theatre play where song, music, dance and theatre mixed together, and where Suriname's many cultures invoked the strength of Mother Suriname.
    6. (of a projectile weapon) to load, to arm

    Descendants

    Swedish

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /spɑːn/
    • Rhymes: -ɑːn

    Etymology 1

    Deverbal from spana.

    Noun

    span n (indeclinable)

    1. (colloquial) an act of spying (something)
      Jag hade fått span på en dam som kan få en att bli monogam
      I had spied a lady that can make one monogamous
    2. (colloquial) stakeout

    Etymology 2

    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Noun

    span

    1. indefinite plural of spa

    References

    West Frisian

    Etymology

    From Low German or Dutch spannen (“to yoke, stretch”).

    Noun

    span n (plural spannen, diminutive spantsje)

    1. span, team (pair of draught animals in a team)
    2. pair, couple

    Further reading

    • “span (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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