Rollerblades

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of footwear with wheels arranged in a single line, designed for skating on surfaces like pavement or roads
2. A form of inline skates that allows users to glide smoothly while performing tricks or recreational activities
3. A sport-specific type of shoe with a series of small wheels aligned in a row, popular for both leisure and competitive use

Etymology: "Rollerblades" is the plural of "rollerblade," which is itself a trademark that became a general word for in-line skates. The brand name was formed from two plain English words: "roller," for the wheels that carry the skater, and "blade," the thin metal runner of an ice skate, which the design borrowed in name for its narrow line of wheels. Put together, the name describes the skate's basic idea, rolling on blades, and the trademark was built to sound like a familiar object. Because the brand was so widely used, many people came to treat its name as the ordinary word for the product, a process trademark lawyers call genericization. Speakers of English now use "rollerblades" for any in-line skates, whether or not they are made by the company that first sold them.