An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/breit

by Friedrich Kluge

breit, adjective, ‘broad, wide,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German breit; it corresponds to Old Saxon brêd, Dutch breed, Anglo-Saxon brâd, English broad, Gothic braiþs, ‘broad.’ Probably from pre-Teutonic mraitó-, akin to the root mrit preserved in Sanscrit, ‘to fall to pieces’ (properly ‘to extend’?).