Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗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. · Roads in general as a means of travel, especially by motor vehicle. · A physical way or route. · A path chosen, as in life or career.
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. Cognates include 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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 8 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:rode<id:ride>"
},
"expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*raidu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"rād\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"rode\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"road\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"road\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "rode",
"id": "ride"
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"expansion": "Middle English rode"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "rād",
"4": "",
"5": "riding, hostile incursion"
},
"expansion": "Old English rād (“riding, hostile incursion”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*raidu"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *raidu"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*raidō",
"4": "",
"5": "a ride"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *raidō (“a ride”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*reydʰ-",
"4": "",
"5": "to ride"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“to ride”)"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "raid"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of raid"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Scots"
},
{
"name": "ety",
"args": {
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"3": "enm:rode<id:ride>"
},
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],
"links": [
[
"rode",
"rode#Middle_English:_ride"
],
[
"rade",
"rade#Middle_English:_ride"
],
[
"rād",
"rad#Old_English"
],
[
"*raidu",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/raidu"
],
[
"*raidō",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/raidō"
],
[
"*reydʰ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/reydʰ-"
],
[
"raid",
"raid#English"
],
[
"reed",
"reed#West_Frisian"
],
[
"roadway",
"roadway#English"
],
[
"way",
"way#English"
],
[
"tautological",
"tautological"
],
[
"compound",
"compound"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Malayalam",
"lang_code": "ml",
"word": "റോഡ്",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "ṟōḍŭ"
},
{
"lang": "Tamil",
"lang_code": "ta",
"word": "ரோடு",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "rōṭu"
},
{
"lang": "Telugu",
"lang_code": "te",
"word": "రోడ్డు",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "rōḍḍu"
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"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.",
"Roads in general as a means of travel, especially by motor vehicle.",
"A physical way or route.",
"A path chosen, as in life or career."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable",
"dated",
"figuratively"
],
"recordId": "f1659a3991d316cd024e4770b3c2fd9d7d45a26ff63ca64507f6ff95eee766dc",
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 26398
}
],
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