Utbredt

Utbredt is a Norwegian adjective meaning widespread or extensively distributed. It describes the geographic or demographic extent of a phenomenon, population, or feature. In biology and ecology, utbredt denotes a species that occurs across a large area or in many habitats. In epidemiology and public health, a disease or condition that affects a large portion of a region or population can be described as utbredt. The term is also used more generally to refer to cultural, technological, or economic phenomena that have a broad presence.

Etymology: utbredt is formed from the prefix ut- meaning outward or widespread, combined with bredt meaning broad or wide. The word is standard in Norwegian Bokmål and is also understood in Nynorsk. Related nouns include utbredelse (distribution, spread) and utbredningsområde (distribution range).

Usage notes: Utbredt is typically contrasted with words such as sjelden (rare) or lokal/begrenset (localized, limited) to describe distribution. In scientific writing, utbredelse is common used to discuss range, range size, and occupancy. The term may appear in plural forms or in compound phrases such as utbredt forekomst (widespread occurrence) or utbredt på tvers av regioner (spread across regions).