Roadside

How to spell roadside

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce roadside

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does roadside mean?

1. nounThe strip of land or area immediately beside a road.
2. adjectiveLocated or happening beside a road.

Roadside in a sentence

• noun

  The broken-down van was parked at the roadside for two hours.

• adjective

  We stopped at a roadside cafe for a quick lunch.

• noun

  Wildflowers grow thickly along the roadside in late spring.

• adjective

  The club offers free roadside assistance if your car fails.

Where does roadside come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound formed by joining 'road' and 'side', both of which are native Germanic words inherited from Old English. 'Road' descends from Old English 'rad', which originally meant a journey on horseback or a riding rather than the paved way we picture today; it shares its deep root with the verb 'ride'. 'Side' comes from Old English 'side', meaning a flank or the long edge of a thing. The two were welded together to name the strip of ground bordering a road, a usage that became common in English from the 1700s as travel and turnpikes grew. Because both halves are familiar everyday words, the spelling is regular and the only thing to remember is that it is written as one solid word.

How the word is built

• road (a way for travel)
• side (the part beside something)