Learn English – Usage of wide as a suffix

adjectivessuffixes

I've looked for the subject, but I don't find a comprehensive answer. I've checked Fowler's MEU, but I'm not happy with the answers I find because I don't find the precise point I'm looking for, so I asking for help here.

May we add "wide" to any noun? For example, if I want to refer to an organization like a bank, may I write "bankwide", "bank-wide", or "bank wide". Are there any specific rules about it?

Could "at large" be a substitute (depending on context of course)? For example, the document was distributed to the the main office, and the bank at large (or bankwide).

Best Answer

From Collins Dictionary:

-wide as a suffix:

-wide combines with nouns to form adjectives which indicate that something exists or happens throughout the place or area that the noun refers to.

  • ...a Europe-wide conference on security and cooperation.
  • Is the problem one that's industry-wide?

-wide also combines to form adverbs.

  • Employers want to be sure recruits understand business Europe-wide.
  • Country-wide, a total of 22 political parties are competing for the voters' allegiance.

As for bankwide (bank wide, bank-wide) there are some usage examples available:

From Securities Activities of Banks :

The aggregate percentage is “the mean of the bank's yearly bank-wide compensation percentage for the immediately preceding year and the bank's yearly bank-wide compensation percentage for the year immediately preceding that year.” A bank's yearly “bank-wide compensation...

From SEC docket:

The “aggregate relationship-total compensation percentage" of a bank operating under the bankwide approach would be calculated in a similar manner as the “ relationship-total compensation percentage” of an account under the ...