Etymologically
Log in

speedway

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word speedway

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1894
Ultimate origins
Old English spedEnglish way
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English speed
English speedway
From the same root
English speedy ← speed

Pronunciation

  • /ˈspiːdweɪ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English speed + way.[2][3][4] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A track or road prepared for fast driving with horses, in the United States: 1894, in the New York Voice;[2][5] Etymonline dates the public road set aside for fast driving to 1892.[3]

Semantic evolution

The first speedways were American roads laid out for racing trotting horses, a sense the OED now treats as historical.[2][3] With the motor car the word passed to a road on which vehicles may travel fast (1903), and so to a motorway or expressway in general.[2][5] From 1925 it meant a racing track for cars or motorcycles,[2][3] and since 1930 the sport of motorcycle racing over a few laps of a short oval dirt or cinder track.[2][6] In American and Canadian English the word is still used for a car racetrack and for a road built for fast traffic.[6][5]

Timeline

  • 1894 – a road or track for fast horse-driving (United States).[2][5] Etymonline has the public road from 1892.[3]
  • 1903 – a road on which motor vehicles may travel fast.[2]
  • 1925 – a racing track for motor vehicles.[2][3]
  • 1930 – motorcycle racing on a short oval dirt track.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The sport of racing light, powerful motorcycles round a short oval cinder or dirt track: a speedway meeting.[6][2]
  2. The track or stadium where such races, or car races, are held.[6][5][2]
  3. (US, Canada) A road built for fast driving; an expressway.[6][5][2]
  4. (historical, US) A road set aside for fast driving with horses.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Speedway.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/speedway. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·