Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “roadway” come from?

Roadway comes from Middle English radewey, a compound of rode (road) and wey (way), ultimately from Germanic roots meaning a path or route for traveling.

roadway (English): A way used as a road; The main or central portion...

Definitions

  1. A way used as a road; The main or central portion...

Ancestry of “roadway”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishroadA way used for travelling between places,...
2Middle EnglishrodeA cross or gibbet; The cross of Christ; The cross...
3Old Englishrādroad; riding, hostile incursion; riding, road
4Proto-West Germanicraiduriding, ride
5Proto-Germanicraidōride, journey; name of the R-rune
6Proto-Germanicrīdanąto ride
7Proto-Indo-Europeanrēydʰ-—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂er-to fit, to fix, to put together
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂er- →