viaduct English · revision 777

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈvaɪədʌkt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈvaɪəˌdʌk(t)/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Formed in English from [[la|via|t=road, way]] and ''-duct'' as in [[aqueduct]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) French ''viaduc'' is a 19th-century borrowing from English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An elevated structure of a series of arches or spans carrying a road or railway over a valley or low ground (1816).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was apparently coined by the English landscape gardener Humphry Repton for an architectural feature.^(Etymonline) It became established with the building of railways, for long bridges of masonry arches, and later of timber, iron or steel, carrying a road or railway over a valley, a low district or other roads.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1816 – ''viaduct''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long [[bridge]] consisting of a series of short spans supported on arches, piers or columns, carrying a road or [[railway]] over a valley or other roads.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aqueduct]]

+ * [[via]]

+ * [[duct]]

+ * [[conduct]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}