route

noun, verb — 11 senses

route

noun

IE, UK /ɹuːt/ · UK /ɹʉwt/

Etymology 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.

8 senses
  1. 1A course or way which is traveled or passed.
  2. 2A regular itinerary of stops, or the path followed…
  3. 3A road or path; often specifically a highway.
  4. 4One of multiple methods or approaches to doing something.
  5. 5One of the major provinces of imperial China from the…
  6. 6A specific entry in a router that tells the router how…
  7. 7A race longer than one mile.
  8. 8A path that has been secured by a railway signalling…
1

A course or way which is traveled or passed.

  • The route was used so much that it formed a rut.
  • You need to find a route that you can take between these two obstacles.
2 more examples
  • 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 23, 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.
  • Here is a map of our delivery routes.
1 more example
  • 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

Figuratively One 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

Historical One of the major provinces of imperial China from the Later Jin to the Song, corresponding to the Tang and early Yuan circuits.

  • 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:
  • 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:
2 more examples
  • 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

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A specific entry in a router that tells the router how to transmit the data it receives.

7

Hobbies, Horse racing, Horseracing, Horses, Lifestyle, Pets, Racing, Sports A race longer than one mile.

8

Rail transport, Railways, Transport A 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.

Derived terms
46 termsbridge route, bus route, donkey route, down route, downroute, en route, on route, escape route, Euroroute, fixed route, fly route, Garden Route, go the route, great circle route, in route, kangaroo route, multiroute, oil burner route, panya route, paper route, poled route, preroute, red route, route indicator, routeless, routeman, route-march, route march, route mile, route of administration, route-one, route one football, route planner, route redistribution, route runner, route setter, route slip, route step, routeway, routon, scenic route, star route, subroute, traceroute, trade route, wine route

route

verb

Etymology 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.

1

To direct or divert along a particular course.

  • All incoming mail was routed through a single office.
2

Internet to connect two local area networks, thereby forming an internet.

3

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To 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:
Derived terms
misroute, reroute, routability, routable, router, routine, rutter
Related terms
bridge, LAN, WAN

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

Learn more