'community-wide' originates from the combination of 'community' and the suffix '-wide', where 'community' refers to a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common, and '-wide' means extending throughout a specified area.

The term 'community-wide' evolved from the use of 'community' in Middle English, derived from Old French 'communité', and the suffix '-wide' from Old English 'wīd', meaning 'extensive'.

Initially, it meant 'extending throughout a community', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.