Etymologically
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boardwalk

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbɔɹdˌwɑk/[1]
  • UK: /ˈbɔːd.wɔːk/[1]
  • US: /ˈbɔɹdˌwɔk/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English board + walk, the first element in its sense of a flat, thin piece of sawn timber.[2][3][4] It arose in American English.[3][4] The first element is from Old English bord (“plank, flat surface”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A footway made of boards: 1836, in the Examiner & Herald of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1839,[5] Etymonline to 1864,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1870–75.[4]

Semantic evolution

The boardwalk as a seaside attraction, a promenade of planks along the beach, is recorded from 1881, first of the one at Atlantic City, New Jersey.[3] The word is chiefly American and Canadian in this sense.[6] By the 21st century boardwalk was also used for waterfront walkways of other materials: in 2011 Grammarphobia discussed a New York parks commissioner who called a concrete boardwalk at Coney Island an "oxymoron" while arguing that the word had become a generic term.[7]

Timeline

  • 1836 – a footway or path made of boards.[2] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1839, and Etymonline to 1864.[5][3]
  • 1881 – a seaside promenade, first at Atlantic City, New Jersey.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A walkway of planks, often slightly raised, over sand, marsh or wet or slippery ground: A boardwalk led across the bog to the hide.[5][8][2]
  2. (chiefly US, Canada) A promenade along a beach or waterfront, usually made of planks.[6][5][8]

Usage notes

Grammarphobia argued that a "concrete boardwalk" may be a misnomer but is not an oxymoron, since wood and concrete are different materials, not opposites.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b O'Conner, Patricia T.; Kellerman, Stewart, The Grammarphobia Blog, grammarphobia.com, p. "Is a “concrete boardwalk” an oxymoron?", 22 July 2011
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin