passageway

Etymology

It is formed from English passage + way.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A way or path through which a person or thing may pass: perhaps 1606, in Rowlands's Terrible Battell;^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to about 1606.^[5] Etymonline, which calls it American English, and Dictionary.com give the 1640s.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the general sense of a road or path giving access, the word narrowed to a corridor or enclosed path between rooms or buildings,^[2] a use Etymonline records in American English by 1846.^[3]

Timeline

• 1606 – a way or path for passing through, in or out.^[2][5]
• 1846 – a hall or corridor in a building.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A way that allows passage to or from a place or between two points; a path or route: A single narrow passageway led down to the beach.^[5][6][2]
2. A corridor or covered walkway that connects rooms or buildings.^[2][6][1]

Related words

• passage
• way

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt