Where does “expressway” come from?
Expressway comes from English express and English way, with express deriving from Latin ex- (out) combined with a root meaning to press or drive forward.
expressway (English): A divided highway where intersections and direct...
Definitions
- A divided highway where intersections and direct...
Ancestry of “expressway”, step by step
expressway traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English express
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | express | Moving or operating quickly, as a train not... |
| 2 | French | exprès | express |
| 3 | Latin | expressus | squeezed |
| 4 | Latin | exprimere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 5 | Latin | ex- | out, away; throughout; thoroughly |
| 6 | Latin | e | The name of the letter "E"; out of, from |
| 7 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 8 | Latin | commūnicō | to impart, share |
| 9 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 10 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 15 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 16 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 17 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 18 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 19 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 20 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |