Phrase guide

en route

prep_phrase · 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɒn ˈɹuːt/
  • General-American: /ɑn ˈɹut/
  • /ɛn ˈɹu(ː)t/ unadapted French pronunciation
  • /ɑ̃ ˈɹu(ː)t/ unadapted French pronunciation
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːt

1

prep_phrase

Meaning 1

On the way.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The shipment is en route to the buyer.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

prep_phrase

Meaning 2

Along the way.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The army advanced, capturing several cities en route.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

on a route to some place

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • help is on the way
  • we saw him on the way to California

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: on the way

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From French en route, from en (“in”) + route (“route”).

Across languages

Translations

66 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: op pad — on the way
  • Arabic: فِي طَرِيق (fī ṭarīq) — on the way
  • Arabic: فِي مَسِيرَة (fī masīra) — on the way
  • Catalan: en ruta — on the way
  • Chinese Mandarin: 在路上 (zài lùshàng) — on the way
  • Chinese Mandarin: 在途中 — on the way
  • Danish: på vej — on the way
  • Dutch: onderweg — on the way
  • Esperanto: survoje — on the way
  • Faroese: á veg — on the way
  • Finnish: matkalla — on the way
  • French: en route — on the way
  • German: unterwegs — on the way
  • German: en Route — on the way
  • Greek: καθ’ οδόν (kath’ odón) — on the way
  • Hebrew: בדרך (badérekh) — on the way
  • Hindi: रास्ते पर (rāste par) — on the way
  • Hungarian: úton — on the way
  • Hungarian: útban — on the way
  • Icelandic: á leiðinni — on the way
  • Icelandic: á flugleið — on the way
  • Icelandic: á veg — on the way
  • Icelandic: á leið — on the way
  • Italian: in arrivo — on the way
  • Japanese: 途中で (tochū de) — on the way
  • Korean: 도중에 (dojung'e) — on the way
  • Latin: in itinere — on the way
  • Macedonian: по пат (po pat) — on the way
  • Persian: در راه (dar râh) — on the way
  • Persian: تو راه (tu râh) — on the way
  • Polish: w drodze — on the way
  • Portuguese: a caminho — on the way
  • Russian: в пути́ (v putí) — on the way
  • Russian: на пути́ (na putí) — on the way
  • Russian: в доро́ге (v doróge) — on the way
  • Sindhi: رستي ۾ اهي (raste me ahe) — on the way
  • Slovene: na poti — on the way
  • Spanish: en ruta — on the way
  • Spanish: en camino — on the way
  • Spanish: en rumbo — on the way
  • Spanish: rumbo a — on the way
  • Spanish: camino a — on the way
  • Swedish: på väg — on the way
  • Afrikaans: op pad — along the way
  • Catalan: de camí — along the way
  • Chinese Mandarin: 在途中 (zài túzhōng) — along the way
  • Esperanto: survoje — along the way
  • Finnish: matkan varrella — along the way
  • French: sur la route — along the way
  • French: sur le chemin — along the way
  • German: unterwegs — along the way
  • Greek: στην πορεία (stin poreía) — along the way
  • Hungarian: útközben — along the way
  • Hungarian: menet közben — along the way
  • Japanese: 途中で (tochū de) — along the way
  • Korean: 도중에 (dojung'e) — along the way
  • Macedonian: на пат (na pat) — along the way
  • Polish: po drodze — along the way
  • Portuguese: no caminho — along the way
  • Russian: по пути́ (po putí) — along the way
  • Russian: по доро́ге (po doróge) — along the way
  • Slovene: spotoma — along the way
  • Spanish: en la ruta — along the way
  • Spanish: en el camino — along the way
  • Spanish: en el rumbo — along the way
  • Swedish: på vägen — along the way