road
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English rode, rade (“ride, journey”), from Old English rād (“riding, hostile incursion”), from Proto-West Germanic *raidu, from Proto-Germanic *raidō (“a ride”), from Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“to ride”). Doublet of raid, acquired from Scots, and West Frisian reed (paved trail/road, driveway).
The current primary meaning of "street, way for traveling" originated relatively late—Shakespeare seemed to expect his audiences to find it unfamiliar—and probably arose through reinterpretation of roadway "a way for riding on" as saying "way" twice, in other words as a tautological compound.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: rōd, IPA(key): /ɹəʊd/
- (General American) enPR: rōd, IPA(key): /ɹoʊd/
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /rod/
- Homophones: Rhode, rode (general), rowed (except Scotland)
- Rhymes: -əʊd
Noun
[edit]road (plural roads)
- A way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now (US) usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. In the UK both senses are heard: a country road is the same as a country lane. [from 16th c.]
- 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion[1], page 266:
- In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
- I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for.
- 2018, Bill Wurtz (lyrics and music), “Long Long Long Journey”[2]:
- And the road doesn't end / It's a long, long road and we follow it again and again / And the road don't pretend
- (uncountable) Roads in general as a means of travel, especially by motor vehicle.
- We travelled to the seaside by road.
- (dated) A physical way or route.
- 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
- He stirred up his hair with his sprightliest expression, glanced at the little figure again, said ‘Good evening, ma ‘am; don’t come down, Mrs Affery, I know the road to the door,’ and steamed out.
- (figuratively) A path chosen, as in life or career. [from 17th c.]
- the road to happiness; the road to success.
- 1964, Ronald Reagan, A Time for Choosing:
- Where, then, is the road to peace?
- 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
- Hodgson may actually feel England could have scored even more but this was the perfect first step on the road to Rio in 2014 and the ideal platform for the second qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on Tuesday.
- An underground tunnel in a mine. [from 18th c.]
- (US, rail transport) A railway or (UK, rail transport) a single railway track. [from 19th c.]
- 1959 November, “L.T. and E.R. developments in East London”, in Trains Illustrated, page 527:
- The new depot, on which work started in May, 1956, has three reception roads leading to 13 sidings capable of taking 25 trains, a 450 ft.-long car examination shed with nine roads, a lifting shop with two roads and three permanent way sidings.
- (obsolete) The act of riding on horseback. [9th–17th c.]
- (obsolete) A hostile ride against a particular area; a raid. [9th–19th c.]
- (nautical, often in the plural) A partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor; a roadstead. [from 14th c.]
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
- Antonio: Sweet lady, you have given me life and living; / For here I read for certain that my ships / Are safely come to road.
- 1630, John Smith, True Travels, Kupperman, published 1988, page 38:
- There delivering their fraught, they went to Scandaroone; rather to view what ships was in the Roade, than any thing else […].
- (obsolete) A journey, or stage of a journey.
- 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
- At last, with easy roads, he came to Leicester; / Lodg'd in the abbey, where the reverend abbot, / With all his convent, honourably receiv'd him; […]
Usage notes
[edit]- Often used interchangeably with street or other similar words. When usage is distinguished, a road is a route between settlements (reflecting the etymological relation with ride), as in the Great North Road from London to Edinburgh, while a street is a route within a settlement (city or town), strictly speaking, paved.
Hyponyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:road
Derived terms
[edit]- 2+1 road
- 2-1 road
- Abu Road
- access road
- all roads lead to Mecca
- all roads lead to Rome
- all roads lead to Sydney
- an old dog for a hard road
- any road
- any road up
- A road, A-road
- arterial road
- back road
- Basque Roads
- Berkeley Road
- B road
- Builth Road
- bump in the road
- bump on the road
- Burma Road
- burn up the road
- byroad
- cart road, cartroad
- Cemmaes Road
- Clarbeston Road
- collector road
- come down the road
- concession road
- corduroy road
- corpse road
- country road
- C road
- crossroad, cross road
- crossroads
- dirt road
- distributor road
- down the road
- driveway doesn't go all the way to the road
- drove road
- drover's road
- drovers' road
- dyke road
- end of the road
- E-road
- escape road
- flavor of the road
- fork in the road
- frontage road
- get the show on the road
- get this show on the road
- go down that road
- go down the road
- Grampound Road
- granger road
- gravel road
- gravel road cop
- Great North Road
- Great Roads
- grid road
- Hampton Roads
- Harling Road
- Heads of the Valleys Road
- highroad, high road
- his driveway doesn't go all the way to the road
- hit the road
- hold the road
- ice road
- iron road
- it's a long road that has no turning
- jinny road
- keep the show on the road
- kick the can down the road
- knight of the road
- Lahaina Roads
- let's get this circus on the road
- long road to hoe
- low road
- Mackinnon Road
- main road
- make the road shorter
- middle of the road, middle-of-the-road
- middle-road
- middle-roader
- miles of bad road
- Milwaukee Road
- Morchard Road
- New Roads
- Nickel Plate Road
- nonroad
- no through road
- off-road bike
- offroad, off-road
- Old Kent Road
- one for the road
- on-road
- on the road
- open road
- open-road
- over-the-road
- pave the road to hell
- pay-per-use road
- Persian Royal Road
- plank road
- post-road
- priority road
- railroad
- ring road
- roadability
- road accident
- road-agent
- road agent
- road allowance
- road apple
- roadbase
- roadbed
- road bicycle
- road bike
- roadblock
- road block
- road bowling
- road bridge, roadbridge
- roadbuilding
- road burn
- road captain
- road car
- road case
- road company
- road crew
- road dawg
- road dog
- roader
- road event
- road export
- road film
- road fund licence
- road furniture
- road game
- road gang
- road grit
- road harrow
- road head
- road hockey
- road hog, road-hog
- roadhouse
- road hump
- road hypnosis
- road hypnotism
- roadie
- road iron
- roadkill
- roadless
- road less traveled
- road less travelled
- road locomotive
- road machine
- road manager
- road map
- road metal
- road movie
- roadness
- road picture
- road pizza
- road pricing
- road race
- road racing
- road rage
- road rager
- road-raging
- road-rail
- road-railer
- road rash
- road roller
- roadrunner
- road salt
- road scraper
- road service
- roadshow
- road shower
- roadside
- road sign
- road slug
- road spikes
- roadstead
- road steamer
- roadster
- road switcher
- road-test
- road test
- road to Damascus
- road train
- road transportation
- road trip
- road user
- road warrior
- roadway
- road work
- roadwork
- roadworks
- roadworthy
- rocky road
- Roman road
- royal road
- rule of the road
- rules of the road
- run out of road
- service road
- shell road
- side road, sideroad
- Silk Road
- skid road
- slip road, sliproad
- spirit road
- St Columb Road
- stroad
- take the high road
- take to the road
- Tapah Road
- Texel Roads
- the grass is always greener on the other side of the road
- the road to hell is paved with good intentions
- the rubber hits the road
- the rubber meets the road
- Tobacco Road
- tobacco-roader
- toll road
- tote road
- tough road to hoe
- track-road
- trunk road
- two-forty on a plank road
- unadopted road
- whale-road
- what happens on the road stays on the road
- where the rubber meets the road
- wide place in the road
- wide spot in the road
- wind road
- winter road
- yellow-brick road
- yellow brick road, Yellow Brick Road
Translations
[edit]a way for travel
|
nautical: partially sheltered waters — see roadstead
a path in life
|
way or route
|
Adjective
[edit]road (not comparable)
- (US, Canada, sports, chiefly attributive) At the venue of the opposing team or competitor; on the road.
- (cycling) Of or pertaining to a road bike.
- road tires
- road groupset
Synonyms
[edit]- (at the venue of the opposing team or competitor): away (UK)
Anagrams
[edit]Estonian
[edit]Noun
[edit]road
- nominative plural of roog
Swedish
[edit]Participle
[edit]road
- past participle of roa
Adjective
[edit]road (not comparable)
Declension
[edit]Inflection of road | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | road | — | — |
Neuter singular | roat | — | — |
Plural | roade | — | — |
Masculine plural3 | roade | — | — |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | roade | — | — |
All | roade | — | — |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |
Related terms
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- Rhymes:English/əʊd
- Rhymes:English/əʊd/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English uncountable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English dated terms
- American English
- en:Rail transportation
- British English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Nautical
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- Canadian English
- en:Sports
- en:Cycling
- en:Horses
- en:Roads
- Estonian non-lemma forms
- Estonian noun forms
- Swedish non-lemma forms
- Swedish past participles
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish adjectives