Usage and Etymology

Road

A road is an identifiable route or path between two or more places. Roads are typically smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or maintenance. In urban areas roads may pass along and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space and route.

Usage and Etymology

In original usage, a “road” was simply any pathway fit for riding (“road” is cognate with “ride”). The word “street,” whose origin is the Latin strata, was kept for paved pathways that had been prepared to ease travel in some way. Thus, many “Roman Roads” have the word "street" as part of their name. However, modern usage does not usually make this distinction and it is only important since place names often hold the earlier usage in them; these days, roads are also prepared in some way. This includes, at least, the removal of trees and smoothing the ground. In some dialects, lower grade roads are called trails and tracks and it is uncertain where “road” begins and “trail” ends. Roads are a prerequisite for road transport of goods on wheeled vehicles. The word “road” emphasizes its function of transportation along its length, while a “street” may be considered to have activity and commerce taking place on it.