Meanings
verbpave (third-person singular simple present paves, present participle paving, simple past and past participle paved)
present singular third person paves · participle present paving · participle past paved · past paved
- figurativelytransitiveTo pave the way for; to make easy and smooth.
After two weeks Miguel began to circulate freely about the city in his truck, albeit with the long, chrome-plated pistol cocked and ready on his lap. It wouldn't be for three more years that Gonzo would tell Miguel about the secret leverage that paved his path to freedom.
2011, Rice Baker-Yeboah, The Animal Pathways 1-2, page 110
Origin
- Latinpavīre“to beat, strike, ram, tread down”
- Vulgar Latin*pavāre“to beat down, to smash”
- Old Frenchpaver“to pave, to cover”
- Englishpave
From Old French paver (“to pave, to cover”), from Vulgar Latin *pavāre (“to beat down, to smash”), from Latin pavīre (“to beat, strike, ram, tread down”).
More words from Old French, Vulgar Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans plavei
- plavei(British) to cover with paving stones
Bulgarian павирам, настилам
- павирам (paviram)(British) to cover with paving stones
- настилам (nastilam)(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Catalan pavimentar, empedrar
- pavimentar(British) to cover with paving stones
- empedrar(British) to cover with paving stones
- pavimentar(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- empedrar(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Chinese Mandarin 鋪砌 /铺砌
- 鋪砌 /铺砌 (pūqì)(British) to cover with paving stones
Danish brolægge, asfaltere
- brolægge(British) to cover with paving stones
- asfaltere(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Dutch bestraten, betegelen
- bestraten(British) to cover with paving stones
- betegelen(British) to cover with paving stones
- bestraten(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- asfalteren(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Esperanto pavimi
- pavimi(British) to cover with paving stones
Finnish kivetä, päällystää
- kivetä(British) to cover with paving stones
- päällystää(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- kivetä(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
French paver, paver
- paver(British) to cover with paving stones
- paver(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
German mit Platten auslegen, pflastern
- mit Platten auslegen(British) to cover with paving stones
- pflastern(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- bepflastern(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Italian lastricare, pavimentare
- lastricare(British) to cover with paving stones
- pavimentare(British) to cover with paving stones
Japanese 敷く, 敷く
- 敷く (shiku)(British) to cover with paving stones
- 敷く (shiku)(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- 舗装する (hosō suru)(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Latin pavīmentō
- pavīmentō(British) to cover with paving stones
Lithuanian grįsti, išgrįsti
- grįsti(British) to cover with paving stones
- išgrįsti(British) to cover with paving stones
Malay turap
- turap(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Norwegian asfaltere, steinlegge
- asfaltere(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- steinlegge(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Portuguese pavimentar, pavimentar
- pavimentar(British) to cover with paving stones
- pavimentar(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Russian мости́ть, вы́мостить
- мости́ть (mostítʹ)(British) to cover with paving stones
- вы́мостить (výmostitʹ)(British) to cover with paving stones
- мости́ть (mostítʹ)(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- вы́мостить (výmostitʹ)(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- асфальти́ровать (asfalʹtírovatʹ)(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- заасфальти́ровать (zaasfalʹtírovatʹ)(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Scottish Gaelic ùrlaraich
- ùrlaraich(British) to cover with paving stones
Spanish pavimentar, pavimentar
- pavimentar(British) to cover with paving stones
- pavimentar(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- asfaltar(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Swedish asfaltera, stenlägga
- asfaltera(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
- stenlägga(North American) to cover with stones, asphalt, etc
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pave
savedavewaveslavecavegraveWAVbravefavebehaveraveshavewaivecravenavestavesuaveclaveengraveMaeveenslaveknavelavetrave
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
pave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pave
MLA
“pave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pave. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pave,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pave.
Source: pave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.