driveway

Etymology

It is a compound from English drive + way.^[2][3][4][5] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism,^[5] and the Shorter Oxford as chiefly North American.^[4] Drive alone in the sense of a road for driving is recorded from 1816.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A road or way along which vehicles or animals can pass: 1824, in the Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette.^[2] Etymonline dates "a way for driving" only from 1870,^[3] Merriam-Webster's earliest dated sense from 1839,^[6] and Dictionary.com from 1865–70.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Early North American uses were agricultural: a passage by which hay or grain was taken into a barn (from 1834) and a course along which game was driven in hunting (from 1875), both now historical.^[2][4] The specific modern sense, a private road leading from a public road to a house, is recorded by 1884.^[3][2] From 1886 the word also meant a scenic highway; in Canada, especially in Ottawa, a driveway is a landscaped urban avenue lined with trees.^[2][7][4]

Timeline

• 1816 – drive, a road for driving.^[3]
• 1824 – a road for vehicles or animals.^[2]
• 1834 – a passage into a barn.^[2]
• 1875 – a course for driving game.^[2]
• 1884 – a private road to a house.^[3]
• 1886 – a scenic highway or landscaped avenue.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A private road leading from a public street to a house or garage: He parked the van in the driveway.^[8][6][2]
2. (Canada) A landscaped avenue or boulevard lined with trees; also a scenic highway.^[2][7][4]
3. (North America, historical) A passage by which hay or grain is brought into a barn.^[2][6][4]
4. (North America, historical) A course along which game or stock is driven.^[2][6][4]

Related words

• drive
• way

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Dollinger, Stefan, ed., A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 3rd ed. (online), Vancouver: University of British Columbia, dchp.arts.ubc.ca
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins