Where does “superhighway” come from?
Superhighway is a twentieth-century English coinage combining Latin super- with Old English hēahweġ, literally meaning "high road."
superhighway (English): An expressway, especially one designed for high...
Definitions
- An expressway, especially one designed for high...
Ancestry of “superhighway”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | highway | A main, direct public road, especially a... |
| 2 | Middle English | heiȝwai | — |
| 3 | Old English | hēahweġ | main road, highway |
| 4 | Old English | hēah | high, tall, lofty, high-class, exalted, sublime,... |
| 5 | Old English | hām | home; village, community; village, hamlet, manor,... |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | haim | home |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | haimaz | home; house; village |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóymos | of the home, belonging to the family; village,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱey- | to be lying down; to settle |