'broadly-distributed' originates from the combination of 'broadly' and 'distributed'. 'Broadly' comes from 'broad', which originates from Old English 'brād', meaning 'wide'. 'Distributed' comes from Latin 'distribuere', where 'dis-' meant 'apart' and 'tribuere' meant 'to assign'.

'Broadly-distributed' evolved from the combination of 'broadly' and 'distributed', which were used separately in Middle English and later combined in modern English.

Initially, 'broadly' meant 'widely' and 'distributed' meant 'assigned or spread out'. Over time, the combination came to mean 'widely spread or dispersed'.