Viaduct

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈvaɪədʌkt/

Definitions

1. A bridge or elevated structure that carries a road or railway over a valley, river, or other obstacle
2. An elevated bridge-like structure carrying a pathway or railway across a depression or obstruction
3. A raised architectural span that conveys traffic or transit lines over geographical barriers or lower terrain

Etymology: Viaduct was coined in 1816, which makes it a young word built on an older model. Its maker took the Latin "via," meaning "highway" or "road," and attached the English "-duct," modeled on "aqueduct." The aqueduct, a channel carrying water over valleys, had long supplied the pattern: a structure that conducts something across a gap. Swapping the water for a road or railway produced a new name for the same kind of engineering. The result is a word that is almost a hybrid of two traditions. "Aqueduct" itself came into English from Latin "aquaeductus," where "aqua" means "water" and "ductus" means "a leading or conducting," so the older word was already a compound of its own. Viaduct inherits that construction while replacing the water with the traffic that now crosses above valleys and rivers.

Synonyms: bridge, aqueduct