Standard Lemma guide

doorway

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈdɔɹweɪ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdɔːweɪ/
  • /ˈdo(ː)ɹweɪ/ rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
  • /ˈdoəweɪ/ non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D AO1 R W EY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The passage of a door; a door-shaped entrance into a house or a room.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • I stood by the doorway to watch her go.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An opening or passage in general.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, figuratively

Examples

  • Soon after dawn, he came to the doorway of my tent.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he stuck his head in the doorway

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: door, room access, threshold

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: entrance, entranceway, entryway, entry, entree

Narrower terms: exterior door, outside door

History

Etymology

From door + way.

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: deuropening — passage of a door
  • Bulgarian: вход (vhod) — passage of a door
  • Cebuano: pulta — passage of a door
  • Cherokee: ᎦᎶᎯᏍᏗ (galohisdi) — passage of a door
  • Chinese Cantonese: 門口 /门口 (mun4 hau2) — passage of a door
  • Chinese Mandarin: 門口 /门口 (ménkǒu) — passage of a door
  • Danish: døråbning — passage of a door
  • Dutch: deurgat — passage of a door
  • Dutch: deuropening — passage of a door
  • Esperanto: pordejo — passage of a door
  • Finnish: oviaukko — passage of a door
  • Finnish: ovensuu — passage of a door
  • French: embrasure de la porte — passage of a door
  • Galician: porta — passage of a door
  • Galician: entrada — passage of a door
  • Galician: portal — passage of a door
  • German: Türöffnung — passage of a door
  • Greek: άνοιγμα πόρτας (ánoigma pórtas) — passage of a door
  • Hungarian: ajtónyílás — passage of a door
  • Irish: doras — passage of a door
  • Italian: uscio — passage of a door
  • Italian: via di accesso — passage of a door
  • Japanese: 戸口 (toguchi) — passage of a door
  • Korean: 출입구 (churipgu) — passage of a door
  • Korean: 문간 (mun'gan) — passage of a door
  • Latin: ostium — passage of a door
  • Latin: ianua — passage of a door
  • Luganda: omulyango — passage of a door
  • Macedonian: влез (vlez) — passage of a door
  • Eastern Mari: аҥ (aŋ) — passage of a door
  • Navajo: chʼéʼétiin — passage of a door
  • Norman: uss'sie — passage of a door
  • Norwegian Bokmål: døråpning — passage of a door
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: døropning — passage of a door
  • Old English: wāgþȳrel — passage of a door
  • Polish: wejście — passage of a door
  • Portuguese: vão da porta — passage of a door
  • Portuguese: porta — passage of a door
  • Russian: дверно́й проём (dvernój projóm) — passage of a door
  • Spanish: portal — passage of a door
  • Spanish: umbral — passage of a door
  • Spanish: portón — passage of a door
  • Swedish: dörröppning — passage of a door
  • Swedish: dörr — passage of a door
  • Telugu: గుమ్మం (gummaṁ) — passage of a door
  • Tumbuka: muryango — passage of a door
  • Ukrainian: дверни́й о́твір (dvernýj ótvir) — passage of a door
  • Ukrainian: дверни́й про́різ (dvernýj próriz) — passage of a door
  • Walloon: poice — passage of a door
  • Walloon: tchapå — passage of a door
  • Welsh: drws — passage of a door
  • Yao (Africa): mlango class 3 — passage of a door
Real reading context

doorway in complete knowledge articles