Autoroute

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specialized road designed for high-speed vehicles that limits entry and exit points to facilitate uninterrupted, long-distance travel
2. A roadway engineered for swift vehicular movement with restricted access aimed at enhancing efficiency for long journeys
3. A type of expressway constructed for fast-moving traffic that manages access points carefully to promote smooth, extended travel

Etymology: The French coined "autoroute" by joining "auto-", short for automobile, to "route", meaning road. The result was a plain, transparent compound: a road built for cars. English took the word over unchanged from French, which is why it still looks and sounds French on the page, with its accent and its "ou" spelling intact. The compound is worth reading literally. "Auto" carries the sense of self-propelled travel that the early motor age made fashionable, while "route" has long meant a road or the course of a journey. Put together, the word names the road type that the car itself made necessary.