The unexpected turns a word can take between one use and another.
broadcast (v.)
Collection
Words That Changed Shape
To broadcast something is to send it out to many people.
The word was used first for scattering seed over a wide area, usually by hand. That agricultural sense is much older than radio.12
In the early twentieth century, broadcast was taken up for radio transmission. The older idea of sending something out widely was kept, but the seed had become a signal.2
The agricultural meaning still exists today.1
The interview was broadcast live.