Span
/spæn/noun
To stretch across, measure by the breadth of the hand, or a short period of time.
Did you know?Its oldest sense is physical and intimate: an actual hand-span, which is why the word still carries the feeling of something stretched from one point to another.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*speh₂-
“to stretch, draw out, or pull”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*spananą
“to stretch, entice, or pull apart”
Old English
OE
spann
“the breadth of the hand; a hand-span”
Middle English
ME
spanne
“a measure of length equal to a hand-span; later, to extend across”
Modern English
English
span
“to extend across, cover, or last for a period of time”