railroad English · revision 5997

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1757}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound, [[af|en|rail|road]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A road laid with rails for heavy wagons, in mining: 1757 in Etymonline, the OED and MWU.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) The process itself seems to have been in use by the late 17th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Application to passenger and freight trains dates from 1825;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) in England the word was largely replaced by [[railway]] in this sense,^(Etymonline) and it is now chiefly American, outside certain compounds.^(SOED 2002) ''Railroads'', railway shares, are from 1848.^(OED 1989) The verb meant to have a mania for building railways in 1847,^(Etymonline) and to provide a country with railways in the early 19th century, in American use.^(SOED 2002) To convict someone quickly and perhaps unjustly, as fast as a train, is American English from 1873,^(Etymonline) and to push something through hastily, as a bill through a legislature, followed.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1757 – a road with rails, in mining.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1825 – a railway for trains.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1847 – the verb, railway mania.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1873 – to convict hastily.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly US)'' A track of parallel steel rails for [[train|alt=trains]]; a [[railway]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(chiefly US)'' A railway system with its track, stations and rolling stock, or the company that runs it.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To push something through quickly, without proper discussion: ''railroad a bill through''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To force someone into doing something, or convict them hastily and unfairly.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[railroader]]

+ * [[nonrailroad]]

+ * [[prerailroad]]

+ * [[prorailroad]]

+ * [[railroad worm]]

+ * [[underground railroad]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rail]]

+ * [[road]]

+ * [[railway]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}