Runway

How to spell runway

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce runway

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does runway mean?

1. nounA long, paved strip at an airport on which aircraft take off and land.
2. nounA long raised platform along which models walk to display clothing at a fashion show.

Runway in a sentence

• The plane sat on the runway waiting for clearance to depart.

• The designer watched each model stride down the runway in the new collection.

• Heavy fog forced crews to close the longest runway overnight.

• Photographers crowded the end of the runway to capture the final outfit.

Where does runway come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound formed from two very old native words: 'run', from the Old English rinnan meaning 'to move quickly on foot', and 'way', from the Old English weg meaning 'a path or road'. Both elements are solidly Germanic and have been in the language since Anglo-Saxon times. The combined form 'runway' is much younger, appearing in American English in the nineteenth century to describe a channel or track along which something runs. With the rise of aviation in the early twentieth century it settled into its now dominant meaning: the long paved strip down which an aircraft runs to take off or land. The fashion sense, the raised platform along which models walk, borrows the same image of a straight track to run along.

How the word is built

• run (to move quickly, from Old English rinnan)
• way (a path or road, from Old English weg)