'awide' originates from Old English, specifically from the prefix 'a-' (from Old English 'on'/'an') + the adjective 'wīd' (Old English 'wīd'), where 'a-' meant 'on, in, at' and 'wīd' meant 'wide'.

'awide' appeared in Middle English as forms like 'a-wide' or 'awide', deriving from earlier Old English phrasing (literally 'on wide' or 'on wīd'), and eventually continued into Early Modern and modern literary usage as 'awide'.

Initially it meant 'on or into a wide position' or 'in a wide manner'; over time it came to be used more generally as 'widely' or 'openly' and is now chiefly literary or archaic.