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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

en route

More U.S. warships are en route, carrying thousands of Marines.

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026

American media meanwhile reports that the defeated candidate is en route to the US.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

But after the dual citizen honed her shot with the French national team, she boosted her scoring average to a career-high 14.4 points this season en route to her second straight All-Star team.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

That plan worked, with the U.S. digging deep to win its final four games, each by a single goal, en route to Olympic gold.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

A prominent abolitionist stopped for a day en route to Chicago and stayed for a week.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

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