means To open out, distribute, or extend something across a surface, area, or group of people — whether butter on toast, news through a town, or a bird's wings into the air.

from From Old English 'sprædan,' to stretch or extend, with cousins across the Germanic family — Dutch 'spreiden' and German 'spreiten' both share the gesture. The root carries the idea of pulling something flat and wide, which is why we still spread sheets, spread the word, and spread ourselves too thin. The noun sense of 'a meal laid out' (a fine spread) is a later, table-bound flowering of the same outward motion.