Word: way Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English way, wey, from Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Doublet of voe and possibly via. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian wai, wäi (“way”), Saterland Frisian Wai (“way”), West Frisian wei (“road; way”), Central Franconian Wääch (“way”), Cimbrian bege, bèg (“way”), Dutch weg (“way”), German, Low German Weg (“way”), Limburgish waeg (“way”), Luxembourgish Wee (“way”), Mòcheno be (“way”), Yiddish וועג (veg, “way”), Danish vej (“way”), Faroese and Icelandic vegur (“way”), Norwegian Bokmål veg, vei (“way”), Norwegian Nynorsk veg (“way”), Swedish väg (“way”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌲𐍃 (wigs, “path; road”). Pronunciation: /weɪ/, [weː], [weɪ], [wɛj], [wæɪ] 1. To do with a place or places. Example: Do you know the way to the airport? Come this way and I'll show you a shortcut. It's a long way from here. Example: Twenty miles surely is a long way to walk. 2. To do with a place or places. Example: We got into the cinema through the back way. Example: Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house. 3. To do with a place or places. Example: If you're ever 'round this way, come over and visit me. 4. A method or manner of doing something; a mannerism. Example: He's finally seen the error of his ways. Example: You're going about it the wrong way. He's known for his quirky ways. I don't like the way she looks at me. 5. A method or manner of doing something; a mannerism. Labels: usually 6. A state or condition Example: When I returned home, I found my house and belongings in a most terrible way. 7. Personal interaction. Example: There's no way I'm going to clean up after you. 8. Personal interaction. Example: My little sister always whines until she gets her way. 9. A tradition within the modern pagan faith of Heathenry, dedication to a specific deity or craft, Way of wyrd, Way of runes, Way of Thor etc. Labels: Germanic Example: To walk the Way of the Runes, you must experience the runes as they manifest both in the part of Midgard that lies outside yourself and the worlds within. (Diana Paxson) 10. Speed, progress, momentum. Labels: uncountable Example: Immediately afterwards, a quick and eager short dark man came into the room with so much way upon him that he was within a foot of Clennam before he could stop. Example: Ten minutes into the run Tang slowed, Welch calling out her speed as she lost way. 11. A degree, an amount, a sense. Example: In a significant way, crocodiles and alligators are similar. Example: That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls. 12. Acknowledges that a task has been done well, chiefly in expressions of sarcastic congratulation. Labels: US Example: Way to ruin the moment, guys. Example: Jimmy leaned forward holding his ear, the personification of naïveté, looking as young as a baby with his oh-so-innocent face. “Oh, way to get us busted, Jimmy,” Curt hissed under his breath. 13. The timbers of shipyard stocks that slope into the water and along which a ship or large boat is launched. Labels: plural, plural-only Example: By the time the Mauretania was ready for launching a total weight of 16,800 tons was standing in the berth, and this represented the heaviest weight that had ever been sent down the ways up to that time. 14. A guiding surface on the bed of a planer, lathe, etc. along which a table or carriage moves; usually in pairs. Labels: plural, usually