autobahn
Americannoun
-
autobahns,
plural
-
autobahnen
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of autobahn
1935–40; < German, equivalent to Auto auto + Bahn road, way
Explanation
A high-speed German highway is known as an autobahn. While there's no legal speed limit on large sections of an autobahn, signs advise drivers to stay under 130 kilometers per hour (about 80 miles per hour). The specific national system of German highways, generally referred to as the Autobahn, is officially called the Bundesautobahn, or "federal motorway." The word isn't capitalized in English when it generally refers to German-designed highways, which also exist in parts of Poland, Austria, and some other European countries. Germany's Autobahn is famous for not having speed limits, but that's a bit of a misconception: Drivers do have to slow down on sections that run through cities and construction sites.
Vocabulary lists containing autobahn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Unlike elsewhere on the autobahn, the median strip on this 3.5-mile section isn’t grassy but solid tarmac.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
The youth movement is calling on the government to adhere to the climate targets enshrined in the Paris Agreement, arguing that massive investments in new autobahn projects should be stopped and redirected to low-emission alternatives.
From Reuters ● Feb. 28, 2023
With their actions, carried out with increasing frequency as 2022 drew to a close, they have attracted enormous attention in a country where cars reign supreme, home to BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and the autobahn.
From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2023
On Acting Insp Smethem's first day on the autobahn, she was riding at the back of the group.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2021
Call me crazy, but if European lawmakers can let Ferraris drive on city roads before turning them loose on the autobahn, you’d think they could do the same for fast e-bikes on speed-enforced bike lanes.
From The Verge ● Oct. 12, 2021
About the only lasting memento is the 1,800 miles of modern autobahnen Hitler built, but even these highways have been broadened, resurfaced and extended beyond recognition.
From Time Magazine Archive
Brand names such as Mercedes and Audi might conjure up images of wide-open autobahns, but when it comes to Formula One, the real nitty-gritty happens in Brackley and Bicester.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Hitler, as the cliché goes, built the autobahns, and Nazi Germany developed technologies like synthetic fuels, optical equipment and space flight that were ahead of the Western democracies.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2025
But it won’t put speed limits on the autobahns.
From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2022
Step by step: first we tackle driving at level three or level four on open highways — German autobahns — and then we get into more complex areas.
From The Verge ● Jan. 18, 2022
The Interstate Highway Act brought autobahns to the United States and became the largest public works project in the nation’s history, building 46,000 miles of road with more than $130 billion of federal money.
From "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
