واسع

Derived from the active participle of وَسُعَ (wasuʕa, “to be wide”) and وَسِعَ (wasiʕa, “to be wide, to hold, to contain”).

• IPA^(key): /waː.siʕ/

وَاسِع • (wāsiʕ) (feminine وَاسِعَة (wāsiʕa), masculine plural وَاسِعُونَ (wāsiʕūna), feminine plural وَاسِعَات (wāsiʕāt), elative أَوْسَع (ʔawsaʕ))

1. large in area, extensive, vast; broad; wide; open
   1. spacious, roomy

      Synonyms: شَاسِع (šāsiʕ), فَسِيح (fasīḥ)

      • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 4:97:

        قَالُوا أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللّٰهِ وَاسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُوا فِيهَا

        qālū ʔalam takun ʔarḍu llāhi wāsiʕatan fa-tuhājirū fīhā

        [The angels] will respond, “Was Allah’s earth not spacious enough for you to emigrate?”

   2. (of clothes) loose, oversized
   3. (of a person's perspective, attitude, or mind) open, broad
   4. (of a person's learning) extensive, deep
2. expansive; comprehensive, inclusive
3. (of a matter, issue, topic, or the like) open, up for discussion, discussable, undetermined
   1. (when referring to issues relating to laws, rules, regulations, and the like) debateable, not fixed
4. (rare, approving) not strict; not harsh; forgiving

   Synonym: سَمِح (samiḥ)

5. (rare) generous, liberal

   Synonyms: جَوَاد (jawād), مِعْطَاء (miʕṭāʔ)

Strictly speaking, the word generally signifies extensiveness, vastness, and spaciousness, as well as openness, not the extent from side to side, which is denoted by عَرِيض (ʕarīḍ) instead.

• اَلْغُرَفُ وَاسِعَةٌ ― al-ḡurafu wāsiʕatun ― The rooms are large.
• الأَرْضُ الْوَاسِعَةُ ― al-ʔarḍu al-wāsiʕatu ― the open land
• سَاحَةٌ وَاسِعَةُ ― sāḥatun wāsiʕatu ― an expansive area

Due to the overlap between their semantic fields, however, the two are sometimes interchangeable, and there are instances where وَاسِع (wāsiʕ) is preferred and more idiomatic, especially when the wideness of the referent is convenient or desirable.

• طَرِيقٌ وَاسِعٌ ― ṭarīqun wāsiʕun ― a wide road
• مَمَرٌّ وَاسِعٌ ― mamarrun wāsiʕun ― a wide corridor

A like connection between narrowness and inconvenience (or frustration) is implied by its antonym ضَيِّق (ḍayyiq). Compare loose and tight.

• ضَيِّق (ḍayyiq)

• Maltese: wiesa’
• Moroccan Arabic: واسع (wāsaʕ)

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “واسع”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[1], London: W.H. Allen

From Arabic وَاسِع (wāsiʕ).

• IPA^(key): /waːsaʕ/

واسع • (wāsaʕ) (feminine واسعة (wāsʕa), common plural وساع (wsāʕ), masculine plural واسعين (wāsʕīn), feminine plural واسعات (wāsʕāt), elative أوسع (ʔawsaʕ) or وسع (wsaʕ))

1. wide

   Antonym: ضيق (ḍiyyaq)

• → Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵡⵙⵄ (wsɛ)

From Arabic وَاسِع (wāsiʕ).

• IPA^(key): /waː.siʕ/, [ˈwæː.sɪʕ]

• Audio (Ramallah):

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واسع • (wāseʕ) (feminine واسعة (wāsʕa), common plural واسعين (wāsʕīn), elative أوسع (ʔawsaʕ))

1. wide, spacious

   Antonym: ضيّق (ḍiyyeʔ)

• عريض (ʕarīḍ, “wide, broad”)

From Arabic وَاسِع (wāsiʕ).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʋɑː.seː/

واسِع • (vāse) (Hindi spelling वासे)

1. capacious, wide, roomy
2. ample

• “واسع”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “واسع”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.