Illustrative Context

That tree trunk is thick; it would take a long time cut through.

Target Sense

• The most generic adjective for thick, in the sense of having a relatively large span between opposing sides. The basic antonym of English thin as applied to things (although not people).
• The target sense is the literal one, a dimension of a single object. As a generic term, the same lexeme may extend to other senses seen as related, but do not enter additional lexemes specific to any of those other senses, such as the following.
  • Do not confuse with the separate IE-CoR meaning wide, i.e. of gaps or spaces rather than objects.
  • Not density in the sense of the compactness of any material, or a (high) count of individual objects within a (limited) space, in extensions of the English lexeme such as thick with people, thick forest. Avoid lexemes that more properly mean dense, rather than target thick in some dimension.
  • Avoid terms referring specifically to liquids, i.e. the extension of the English lexeme to thick soup, for example, as the opposite of runny.
• The target sense is the dimension of an object perceived as primarily horizontal, and certainly not vertical. Avoid terms that are more equivalent to English tall, high or deep instead of target thick.
• The target context refers to things, including the tree-trunk in the illustrative context, not to people (or animals). Avoid adjectives more specifically applied to people, especially if to refer not to a simple dimension between opposing sides of (a part of) the body (such as an arm or leg), but by default to girth around the stomach, or to general corpulence, e.g. plump, chubby, fat.
• The target is a neutral term, relatively free of inherent value judgement as to whether thickness is desirable or not in any given case.
• Avoid intensifying or attenuating lexemes, for either especially thick or only slightly thick.
• The default register term: avoid lexemes that are markedly elevated or slang.
• Avoid lexemes that are primarily extensions (e.g. of the English lexeme thick) to figurative senses, e.g. obtuse, not intelligent.