route

R1O1U1T1E1
Ireland, UK/ɹuːt/British, Southern, Standard/ɹʉwt/Australia/ɹʉːt/Canada, US/ɹut/

noun

A course or way which is traveled or passed.

“We live near the bus route.”

Very commonScrabble 5

Meanings

route1

nounroute (plural routes)

plural routes

  1. A course or way which is traveled or passed.

    The route was used so much that it formed a rut.

    3 more examples

    You need to find a route that you can take between these two obstacles.

    I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.

    1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

    It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.

    2013 March 28, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 83
  2. A regular itinerary of stops, or the path followed between these stops, such as for delivery or passenger transportation.

    We live near the bus route.

    2 more examples

    Here is a map of our delivery routes.

    The Route 4 bus will arrive on 5th St. at Robinson Ave at 3:30.

  3. A road or path; often specifically a highway.

    Follow Route 49 out of town.

  4. figurativelyOne of multiple methods or approaches to doing something.

    If such an option is to viable over time, it needs to be protected against competitors. Having patent protection is one route. […] Another route is to have a programmatic investment strategy […]. Rolex has taken this route […]

    2010, Damien McLoughlin, David A. Aaker, Strategic Market Management: Global Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, pages 156–7
  5. historicalOne of the major provinces of imperial China from the Later Jin to the Song, corresponding to the Tang and early Yuan circuits.

    Under the director were eight education promotion officials (quanxue yuan), each installed in a “route”(lu,corresponding to the policing ward).

    2005, Huaiyin Li, Village Governance In North China: Huailu County, 1875-1936, →ISBN
    3 more examples

    The Chinese, ever since the first century of our era, have called the countries which we to-day name Kashgar and Sungaria, "routes." They referred them to their relative position on the two sides of the Tian-Shan, and called our Sungaria, Pe-lu, " northern route," and our Kashgar, Nan-lu, " southern route." The Turks gave other names to these countries; they called the northern route besh-balik, "the five cities," Pentapolis; the southern route was alti-shehr, " the six cities," Hexapolis.

    1908, Henry Smith Williams, The Historians' History of the World

    In the year Zhiyuan 8, 5th month, on xinwei day (around June, 1271), owing to the fact that the chieftains of the eight polities in Dali had submitted recently and were adhered to [China], the thirty-seven tribal regions under Dali were divided into three routes.

    2008, Foon Ming Liew, Volker Grabowsky, & ʻArunrat Wichīankhīeo, Lan Na in Chinese historiography, →ISBN

    Chinese administrative "cities" were often the location of more than one yamen, each with its own territorial jurisdiction. For instance, Yangszhou was not only the seat of the Pacificiation Commission (xuanweisi) of Huaidonglu, but also the capital of the Yanzhou Route (lu) subordinated to the Pacification Commission. Morevover, it was the administrative seat of Jiangdu District, which was subordinated to the Yangzhou Route.

    2012, Hans Ulrich Vogel, Marco Polo Was in China, →ISBN
  6. computingA specific entry in a router that tells the router how to transmit the data it receives.
  7. hobbiesA race longer than one mile.
  8. rail transportA path that has been secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train and locked to prevent any conflicting train movements from taking place.
verbroute (third-person singular simple present routes, present participle routeing or (sometimes in US) routing, simple past and past participle routed)

present singular third person routes · participle present routeing · participle present sometimes routing · participle past routed · past routed

  1. transitiveTo direct or divert along a particular course.

    All incoming mail was routed through a single office.

  2. Internetto connect two local area networks, thereby forming an internet.
  3. transitivecomputingTo send (information) through a router.

    Google Glass has come under fire from privacy advocates because it can record video without subjects being aware of it, and that any video will be routed through Google's servers.

    2014 June 24, “Google Glass go on sale in the UK for £1,000”, in The Guardian

route2

verb
  1. pronunciation spellingEye dialect spelling of root.

Route3

proper nounRoute (plural Routes)

plural Routes

  1. A surname from French.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan established line of travel or access

Broader

nounan open way (generally public) for travel or transportation

Similar
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

route · noun, verb

  1. Latinrupta [via]
  2. Old Frenchroute
  3. Middle Englishroute
  4. Englishroute

From Middle English route, from Old French route, from Latin rupta [via] (literally “a path made by force”). Compare Modern French route. See routine. Further via Latin ruptus related with bankrupt. Unrelated to road.

Full word history & related roots →

Route · proper noun

  1. FrenchRoute
  2. EnglishRoute

Borrowed from French Route, or a variant spelling of Routt.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic طَرِيق, مَسار
  • طَرِيق (ṭarīq)course or way traveled
  • مَسار (masār)course or way traveled
Bulgarian път, маршру́т
  • път (păt)course or way traveled
  • маршру́т (maršrút)course or way traveled
  • курс (kurs)passing, course, road
  • маршру́т (maršrút)passing, course, road
Catalan ruta
  • rutacourse or way traveled
Chinese Mandarin 路線 /路线, 航線 /航线
  • 路線 /路线 (lùxiàn)course or way traveled
  • 航線 /航线 (hángxiàn)course or way traveled
  • 線 /线 (xiàn)course or way traveled
  • 路 (lù)course or way traveled
  • 作法 (zuòfǎ)way to do something
  • 手段 (shǒuduàn)way to do something
Czech trasa, cesta
  • trasacourse or way traveled
  • cestacourse or way traveled
  • cestaway to do something
  • cestapassing, course, road
  • směrovatto direct along a particular course
Danish rute, vej
  • rutecourse or way traveled
  • vejcourse or way traveled
  • togvejpath secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train
Dutch route, traject
  • routecourse or way traveled
  • trajectcourse or way traveled
  • wegway to do something
  • rijwegpath secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train
  • routepassing, course, road
  • trajectpassing, course, road
  • leidento direct along a particular course
  • sturento direct along a particular course
Esperanto irvojo, vojo
  • irvojocourse or way traveled
  • vojocourse or way traveled
  • vojirocourse or way traveled
  • itinerocourse or way traveled
Estonian marsruut, teekond
  • marsruutcourse or way traveled
  • teekondcourse or way traveled
  • teecourse or way traveled
Finnish reitti, tie
  • reitticourse or way traveled
  • tieway to do something
  • reittiway to do something
  • reitti(computer) an entry in a router that tells the router how to transmit the data it receives
  • reittipassing, course, road
  • ohjatato direct along a particular course
  • reitittääto direct along a particular course
  • reitittääinternet: to connect two LANs
  • reitittääcomputer: to send information via a router
French route, chemin
  • routecourse or way traveled
  • chemincourse or way traveled
  • itinérairecourse or way traveled
  • itinérairepath secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train
  • routepassing, course, road
German Route, Weg
  • Routecourse or way traveled
  • Wegcourse or way traveled
  • Pfadcourse or way traveled
  • Wegstreckecourse or way traveled
  • Wegway to do something
  • Pfadway to do something
  • Fahrstraßepath secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train
  • Routepassing, course, road
  • Straßepassing, course, road
  • Wegpassing, course, road
  • Pfadpassing, course, road
Greek διαδρομή
  • διαδρομή (diadromí)course or way traveled
Hindi मार्ग, रास्ता
  • मार्ग (mārg)course or way traveled
  • रास्ता (rāstā)course or way traveled
  • राह (rāh)course or way traveled
  • मार्ग (mārg)passing, course, road
Hungarian útvonal, út
  • útvonalcourse or way traveled
  • útway to do something
  • módway to do something
  • útvonalpassing, course, road
  • járatpassing, course, road
  • irányítto direct along a particular course
Icelandic leið
  • leiðcourse or way traveled
Indonesian rute, relasi
  • rutecourse or way traveled
  • relasipath secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train
  • rutepassing, course, road
Irish slí, slí
  • slícourse or way traveled
  • slípassing, course, road
Italian rotta, percorso
  • rottacourse or way traveled
  • percorsocourse or way traveled
  • itinerariocourse or way traveled
  • viaway to do something
  • stradaway to do something
  • viapassing, course, road
  • stradapassing, course, road
  • avviareto direct along a particular course
  • instradareto direct along a particular course
  • dirigereto direct along a particular course
  • connettereinternet: to connect two LANs
  • instradareinternet: to connect two LANs
Japanese 道筋, ルート
  • 道筋 (michisuji)course or way traveled
  • ルート (rūto)course or way traveled
  • 路線 (rosen)course or way traveled
  • 通路 (tsūro)course or way traveled
  • 手段 (shudan)way to do something
Korean 경로, 노선
  • 경로 (gyeongno)course or way traveled
  • 노선 (noseon)course or way traveled
  • 로선 (roseon)course or way traveled
  • 수단 (sudan)way to do something
  • 길 (gil)passing, course, road
Latin via
  • viacourse or way traveled
Latvian maršruts, ceļš
  • maršrutscourse or way traveled
  • ceļšcourse or way traveled
  • trasecourse or way traveled
Lithuanian maršrutas, kelias
  • maršrutascourse or way traveled
  • keliascourse or way traveled
  • trasacourse or way traveled
Malay jajaran, laluan
  • jajaranpassing, course, road
  • laluanpassing, course, road
Māori ara, riunga
  • aracourse or way traveled
  • riungacourse or way traveled
  • pēheatangaway to do something
  • pēwheatangaway to do something
  • araway to do something
  • ararere(computer) an entry in a router that tells the router how to transmit the data it receives
  • arapassing, course, road
  • ararerepassing, course, road
  • ararerecomputer: to send information via a router
Norwegian Bokmål rute, vei
  • rutecourse or way traveled
  • veicourse or way traveled
  • togveipath secured by a railway signalling system for the passage of a train
Polish szlak, trasa
  • szlakcourse or way traveled
  • trasacourse or way traveled
  • sposóbway to do something
  • pokierowaćto direct along a particular course
  • wskazać kierunekto direct along a particular course
  • trasowaćinternet: to connect two LANs
  • trasowaćcomputer: to send information via a router
Portuguese rota, percurso
  • rotacourse or way traveled
  • percursocourse or way traveled
  • caminhocourse or way traveled
  • itineráriocourse or way traveled
  • jeitoway to do something
  • caminhoway to do something
  • percursopassing, course, road
  • rotearinternet: to connect two LANs
Romanian rută, drum
  • rutăcourse or way traveled
  • drumcourse or way traveled
  • traseucourse or way traveled
  • itinerarcourse or way traveled
  • îndrumato direct along a particular course
  • direcționato direct along a particular course
  • rutainternet: to connect two LANs
Russian маршру́т, курс
  • маршру́т (maršrút)course or way traveled
  • курс (kurs)course or way traveled
  • путь (putʹ)course or way traveled
  • доро́га (doróga)course or way traveled
  • тра́сса (trássa)course or way traveled
  • путь (putʹ)way to do something
  • маршру́т (maršrút)passing, course, road
  • тра́сса (trássa)passing, course, road
  • направлять (napravljatʹ)to direct along a particular course
  • направить (napravitʹ)to direct along a particular course
Scottish Gaelic slighe, slighe
  • slighecourse or way traveled
  • slighepassing, course, road
Slovak trasa, cesta
  • trasacourse or way traveled
  • cestacourse or way traveled
  • dráhacourse or way traveled
Spanish ruta, itinerario
  • rutacourse or way traveled
  • itinerariocourse or way traveled
  • enrutarto direct along a particular course
  • encaminarto direct along a particular course
  • enrutarinternet: to connect two LANs
  • enrutarcomputer: to send information via a router
Swedish rutt, väg
  • ruttcourse or way traveled
  • vägcourse or way traveled
  • sättway to do something
Tagalog yagban
  • yagbancourse or way traveled
Thai ทาง, เส้นทาง
  • ทาง (taang)course or way traveled
  • เส้นทาง (sên-taang)course or way traveled
  • ทาง (taang)passing, course, road
  • ถนน (tà-nǒn)passing, course, road
Turkish rota, yol
  • rotacourse or way traveled
  • yolcourse or way traveled
Ukrainian маршру́т, шлях
  • маршру́т (maršrút)course or way traveled
  • шлях (šljax)course or way traveled
  • курс (kurs)course or way traveled
  • тра́са (trása)course or way traveled
  • доро́га (doróha)course or way traveled
  • шлях (šljax)way to do something
  • маршру́т (maršrút)passing, course, road
  • тра́са (trása)passing, course, road
  • направля́ти (napravljáty)to direct along a particular course
  • напра́вити (naprávyty)to direct along a particular course
Urdu راہ
  • راہ (rāh)course or way traveled
Vietnamese hành trình, lộ trình
  • hành trìnhcourse or way traveled
  • lộ trìnhcourse or way traveled
  • tuyến đườngpassing, course, road

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with route

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

route. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/route

MLA

“route.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/route. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “route,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/route.

Source: route on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.