road English · revision 2532

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=871 (Old English rād, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)|origins=gem-pro *raidō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /rəʊd/, US /roʊd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|rode|t=a riding, journey]] (also [[m|enm|rade]]), [[inh|ang|rād|t=riding, journey; hostile incursion]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*raidō]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) derived from the root of [[m|gem-pro|*rīdaną|t=to ride]], the source of [[ride]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(COED 2004) Barnhart and Etymonline trace it to [[ine-pro|*reidh-|t=to ride]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Its cognates include [[ofs|rēd|t=ride]], [[dum|rede]], [[goh|reita|t=foray]] and [[non|reið|t=riding, vehicle]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) It is a doublet of [[raid]], the Scots form of the same word.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of riding on horseback, a journey on horseback: Old English ''rād'', about 888;^(OED 1989) Barnhart's first example is from 871, in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''.^(Barnhart 1988) A mounted raid or hostile incursion is from about 900.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English the word still meant a riding or a raid, senses now obsolete.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) A sheltered stretch of water where ships ride at anchor, a ''roadstead'', is from about 1320.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) The sense “way between places for travellers” is recorded from 1596,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) at the end of the 16th century,^(Cresswell 2021) and ''Word Origins'' notes some evidence that it was used earlier.^(Cresswell 2021) Hoad suggests that it was generalized from Old English compounds such as [[m|ang|hwēolrād|t=wheel-track]].^(Hoad 1986) The ''middle of the road'' has meant moderate views since the 1890s, first in US politics.^(Cresswell 2021) An underground passage in a mine is a ''road'' from 1839.^(OED 1989) ''On the road'', “travelling”, and a road as a railway are American uses.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 871 – Old English ''rād'', a riding (''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 900 – a raid.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – Middle English ''rade'', a journey.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1320 – a roadstead.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1596 – a way for travel.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1839 – a passage in a mine.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1890s – ''middle of the road''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An open, usually public way for vehicles, people and animals.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The surface of such a way.^(AHD)

+ # A course or path: ''the road to success''.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # ''(US)'' A [[railroad]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(often roads)'' A [[roadstead]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[roadless]]

+ * [[roadlessness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ride]]

+ * [[raid]]

+ * [[inroad]]

+ * [[roadstead]]

+ * [[railroad]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate verb ''road'', of unknown origin, is used of a dog following game by the scent of its trail, from 1856.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}