abroad

First attested in mid 13th century. From Middle English abrood (“broadly widely scattered”), from a- (“on, in”) + brood (“broad”). Equivalent to a- +‎ broad.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹɔːd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹɔd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːd

abroad (not comparable)

1. Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470.)][1]
   • 2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in New York Times‎:

     A closer look at North Korean history reveals what Pyongyang’s leaders really want their near-farcical belligerence to achieve — a reminder to the world that North Korea exists, and an impression abroad that its leaders are irrational and unpredictable.

   • 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIV, in The History of England from the Accession of James II‎, volume 3:

     Another prince, deposed by the Revolution, was living abroad.

2. (dated) At large; widely; broadly; over a wide space. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350.)][1]

   A tree spreads its branches abroad.

   • 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon, and other Poems on several Occasions:

     Again: The lonely fox roams far abroad, / On ſecret rapine bend and midnight fraud; […]

3. (dated) Without a certain confine; outside the house; away from one's abode. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350.)][1]

   to walk abroad

   • p. 1650,, John Evelyn, William Bray, editor, Diary‎, Frederic Warne and Company, published 1818, entry for 1650 July 7, page 207:

     I went to St. James', where another was preaching in the court abroad.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter 1, in The House Behind the Cedars:

     Was it so irreconcilable, Warwick wondered, as still to peal out the curfew bell, which at nine o'clock at night had clamorously warned all negroes, slave or free, that it was unlawful for them to be abroad after that hour, under penalty of imprisonment or whipping?

4. (dated) Before the public at large; throughout society or the world; here and there; moving without restriction. [First attested in the late 15^th century.][1]
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Mark 1:45:

     But he went out, and beganne to publish it much, and to blase abroad the matter: insomuch that Iesus could no more openly enter into the citie, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from euery quarter.

5. Not on target; astray; in error; confused; dazed. [First attested in the early 19^th century.][1]
6. (sports) Played elsewhere than one's home grounds.

• overseas

• be abroad

abroad

1. (rare) Countries or lands abroad. [First attested in the mid 19^th century.][1]
   • 1929, King George V, widely (and variously) quoted:

     I hate abroad, abroad’s bloody.

   • c. 1991, New Statesman & Society, volume 3–4, page 180:

     I am not, however, a xenophobe: obviously, abroad has some good ideas—arranged marriages, violent revolutions and so on.

   • 2001 March 13, The Earl of Onslow, speaking in the House of Lords, quoted in Hansard:

     That is not a xenophobic remark. I am a xenophiliac; I love abroad. I love foreigners. I just do not like the way that they are running the European agricultural policy.

• near abroad

abroad

1. Throughout, over.

• "Now abroad has entered English as a noun" - The New York Times, "ON LANGUAGE; The Near Abroad", William Safire, May 22, 1994, quoting Christian Caryl

• A board, Baroda, aboard, aborad