The Latin word extensus came to Spanish as extenso . This adjective, according to the first meaning mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), refers to that which has extension (length or surface).
The most common use of the concept is associated with what is broad, long or large . For example: “This road is very long, it runs through the province from end to end” , “With an extensive video that he shared on social networks, the actor defended himself against his ex-wife's accusations” , “I am reading a long book” . about the history of Spain” .
Extent can be measured in different ways. An extensive bridge , to cite one example, has a length of many meters. The longest bridge on the planet is the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China , almost 165 kilometers long.
A long speech , on the other hand, is measured in minutes or hours. Suppose that a writer, upon receiving a literary award, goes on stage and expresses gratitude for the distinction for two hours. It can be said that the author in question gave a long thank-you speech.
An extensive police operation , meanwhile, can be carried out with the participation of many agents distributed in different parts. If Justice orders five simultaneous raids in a province, carried out by about two hundred police officers, the media can refer to the fact that an extensive operation was carried out.
A long book has many pages, just as a long concert includes many songs: as you can see, the adjective is used in various contexts.
This adjective is, in principle, objective: the measurement that must be carried out to derive its use is exact, since it is based on the calculation of units of time or distance, among others. However, it also has a subjective nuance, since the duration of the same speech, for example, may be extensive for some and adequate for others.
Each individual has a different degree of tolerance for the same situation, and this is influenced by issues such as prior preparation and personal tastes, among others. A poetry enthusiast probably won't get tired of reading poems, just as a sports lover stays upright after several kilometers of hiking, but these same experiences may be excessive, too extensive for others.
Among the synonyms that we find in dictionaries for the word extensive , in addition to those already mentioned in the previous paragraphs, are vast, endless, dilated and prolonged . Regarding its antonyms, we can mention brief, short and reduced . As in the previous case, all these terms serve to express both precise and subjective measurements, and this gives them a versatility that gives rise to an ambiguous use of language .
It is necessary to point out that not all synonyms are interchangeable with the extensive term in any situation; For example, we cannot speak of "a vast discourse" to refer to an extensive one. In the same way, their antonyms must be chosen taking into account the context in which they are found, and that is why saying "reduced speech " is not the same as "short."
Another important point when considering the list of antonyms presented above can be seen in the concept of short story : in this case, we are not dealing with a personal appreciation of the duration of a particular story, but rather with a specific type of short story that is based in events whose protagonists are few and go through a plot of relative simplicity. Needless to say, we cannot oppose the short story to a long story, since the latter is not an academically defined concept.