en route

American  

[ahn root, en, ahn root] / ɑn ˈrut, ɛn, ɑ̃ ˈrut /

adverb

1. on the way.

   The plane crashed en route from Cairo to Athens.

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en route British  

/ ɑ̃ rut, ɒn ˈruːt /

adverb

1. on or along the way; on the road

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en route Idioms  

1. On or along the way, as in We'll pick up Dan en route to the restaurant, or We can finish our discussion en route. This French term was adopted into English in the late 1700s.

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Etymology

Origin of en route

Borrowed into English from French around 1770–80

Example Sentences

Instead, he is en route back to the capital, Mogadishu.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

Yamamoto retired 22 straight en route to eight innings of two-hit ball.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026

Arnaldi had spent 19 hours and 42 minutes on court en route to the semi-finals in Paris - the longest anyone has played on their way to the last four of a major since 1991.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

The aircraft, an Airbus A330 wide-body, had been en route from Brazil to Paris when the jet’s Pitot tube, which is used to determine airspeed, iced over.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

I have no idea what my efficiency would be on the nastier land en route to Ares 4.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir