gateway English · revision 39427

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1707}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɡeɪtˌweɪ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|gate|way]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A passage that is or may be closed by a gate, an opening in a fence or wall: 1707, in Mortimer's book on husbandry.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) explained ''gateways'' as ways through the gates of enclosed fields, quoting Mortimer on how muddy they got.^(Johnson 1755) By 1782 the word also meant the frame or arch in which a gate hangs, or a building over a gate.^(OED 2026) The figurative sense, a way in or out, is recorded from Tennyson's ''Locksley Hall'' (1842).^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In the United States it came to mean a city or point through which traffic enters a region.^(MWU 2024) In computing, from 1974, a gateway is a device that connects separate networks or systems,^(OED 2026) and a verb ''to gateway'' followed in 1983.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1707 – a passage closed by a gate.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1782 – a frame or arch in which a gate hangs.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1842 – figurative: a means of entry or exit.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1974 – computing: a device linking networks.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1983 – verb: to connect by a gateway.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An opening in a wall or fence that can be closed by a [[gate]]; also the structure framing it.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A means of access or entry: ''the town is the gateway to the national park''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(computing)'' A device or program that connects two [[network|alt=networks]] using different [[protocol|alt=protocols]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gateway drug]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}