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footpath

UK/ˈfʊtˌpɑːθ/US/ˈfʊtˌpæθ/
nounA2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,141 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: footpaths

A footpath is a narrow way kept open for walkers. Across fields, through woods, or between two houses.

In England and Wales public footpaths are legal rights of way, marked on maps and protected even where they cross private land, which is a genuinely unusual arrangement and the reason for so many yellow arrows on gateposts. Landowners must not block them. Australian English uses footpath for what Britain calls the pavement and America the sidewalk, which causes confusion in both directions.

Haoreima · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of footpath

  1. 1nounfootpathA path for people on foot, often a legal right of way.A2+

    “The footpath runs along the bottom of the field.”

Where it comes from

  1. Middle English

    foot path

  2. English, today

    footpath

From Middle English foot path, footpath; equivalent to foot + path. Compare stq Foutpaad (“footpath”), West Frisian fuotpaad (“footpath”), Dutch voetpad (“footpath”), German Low German Footpadd (“footpath”), German Fußpfad (“footpath”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Farm & Countryside

First appears in chapter 2 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

footpath in the wild

  • In the United Kingdom and Ireland, footpath or hiking trail is the preferred term.

    Trail

  • Urban footpaths are usually paved, may have steps, and can be called alleys, lanes, steps, etc.

    Footpath

  • Such roadside footpath is also known as a pavement in British English and South African English, or a sidewalk in North American English.

    Footpath

  • The GR footpaths are a network of long-distance walking trails in Europe, mostly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain.

    GR footpath

  • Swan's Way is a long distance bridle route and footpath in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England.

    Swan's Way (footpath)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.