span

Noun

1. 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.
2. Any of various traditional units of length approximating this distance, especially the English handspan of 9 inches forming ⅛ fathom and equivalent to 22.86 cm.
3. (broadly) A small space or a brief portion of time.
4. A portion of something by length; a subsequence.
5. The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
6. The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
7. 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.
8. (Canada, US) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
9. The space of all linear combinations of vectors within a set.
10. The time required to execute a parallel algorithm on an infinite number of processors, i.e. the shortest distance across a directed acyclic graph representing the computation steps.
11. wingspan of a plane or bird

Verb

1. (transitive) To extend through the distance between or across.
2. (transitive) To extend through (a time period).
3. (transitive) To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.
4. To generate an entire space by means of linear combinations.
5. (US, dated, intransitive) To be matched, as horses.
6. (transitive) To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.

Verb

simple past of spin

spin

• Verb
• Noun
• Noun
• Noun

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Pronounced as (IPA)

/spæn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: spanne

Inherited from Old English: spann

Cognate with Dutch: span

Cognate with German: Spanne

Cognate with Old English: ġespan

Cognate with Dutch: gespan

Cognate with German: Gespann

Inherited from Middle English: spannen

Inherited from Old English: spannan

Cognate with German: spannen

Cognate with Dutch: spannen

Inherited from Middle English: span

In summary

From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spannō (“span, handbreadth”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”).
Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. The sense “pair of horses” is probably from Old English ġespan, ġespann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Dutch gespan, German Gespann.

Synonyms

bridge

period

stretch

duration

fathom

interval

straddle

yoke

cross

spread

brace

range

cover

space

wingspan

wingspread

traverse

sweep

age

pair

length

generate

extend

distance

couple

👫

extent

hand span

twain

2

term

twosome

reach

run

lifetime

knot

🪢

leash

gap

dyad

encompass

duet

duad

duo

bear

🐻

couplet

distich

step

bury

bunch

bay

building

brood

Translations

spanna

Spanne

empan

Spannweite

palmo

enjamber

cuarta

palmo

campata

piędź

abarcar

brasse

periodo

σπιθαμή

larghezza

Sentences

This began an association between the two that would span the next eighteen years .