expressway

Etymology

It is a compound from English express + way,^[2][3][4][5] first American.^[3] The first element is the adjective meaning fast, used of trains from 1837 and generally from 1869;^[2] the slightly earlier phrase “express highway” is recorded from 1919.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A wide road with two or more lanes in each direction for fast traffic: 1921, in the Engineering News-Record.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED revised its dating: its 1989 edition had the word from about 1938,^[6] and Etymonline dates it by 1945,^[3] Merriam-Webster to 1944^[7] and Dictionary.com to 1940–45.^[5] The word came to name, especially, a road with few or no tolls or intersections,^[2] and in North American, Australian and New Zealand use an urban road built for fast traffic.^[4][8][9] In the United States busy expressways attracted mocking nicknames: the Long Island Expressway has long been called the "World's Longest Parking Lot",^[10] and Dallas's Central Expressway has been "Central Distressway" since at least the early 1990s.^[11]

Timeline

• 1919 – express highway.^[2] Etymonline dates it by 1938.^[3]
• 1921 – expressway, a wide multi-lane road for fast traffic.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1944, Etymonline by 1945.^[7][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wide, divided highway for fast through traffic, with access limited or controlled and intersections avoided.^[7][12][2]
2. (North America, Australia, New Zealand) A road for fast traffic through or around a city; a motorway.^{[4][13][8][9][14]}

Related words

• express
• way
• freeway
• parkway

Usage notes

The Shorter Oxford labels the word North American and Australian,^[4] and the New Zealand Oxford adds New Zealand;^[9] Collins glosses it for British readers as a motorway.^[14] Merriam-Webster contrasts it with freeway, parkway and turnpike.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Moore, Bruce, ed. (2004), The Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Melbourne: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005), The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, Auckland: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "World’s Longest Parking Lot", 29 June 2011
11. ^ Popik, Barry, The Big Apple, barrypopik.com, p. "Central Distressway", 22 November 2008
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
13. ^ Barber, Katherine, ed. (2004), The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Toronto: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins