pathway

English

Etymology

From Middle English pathwei, equivalent to path +‎ way. Cognate with German Pfadweg, Afrikaans padweg.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːθˌweɪ/
• (US, Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈpæθˌweɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

pathway (plural pathways)

1. A footpath or other path or track.

   Hyponyms: cowpath, desire path, footpath; more

   follow the pathway

   go down the pathway

   on the pathway

   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Winged Monkeys”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co., →OCLC, page 167:

     YOU WILL REMEMBER there was no road—not even a pathway—between the castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City.

2. (biochemistry) A sequence of biochemical compounds, and the reactions linking them, that describe a process in metabolism or catabolism.
3. (figurative) A course of action.

   the pathway to success

Derived terms

• geniculostriate pathway
• hedgehog signalling pathway
• mesolimbic pathway
• metabolic pathway
• pentose phosphate pathway
• signalling pathway

 

Translations

footpath, path or track

• Bulgarian: пътека (bg) f (pǎteka)
• Galician: camiño (gl) m, sendeiro (gl) m, carreiro m
• German: Bahn (de) f, Pfad (de) m
• Ngunawal: mura, murra
• Swedish: stig (sv) c
• Turkish: patika (tr), yolak (tr)

biochemistry: sequence of biochemical compounds

• French: voie (fr)
• Indonesian: lintasan (id)
• Italian: via (it), pathway (it)
• Malay: tapak jalan
• Portuguese: via (pt)
• Spanish: via (es), ruta (es)

References

• Joe Miller (2018 January 24) “Davos jargon: A crime against the English language?”, in BBC News‎^[1], BBC