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

See Examples For:

en route

The election result was too close to call, but it looked increasingly clear that the far-right Sweden Democrats, which first entered parliament in 2010, were en route to lose ground for the first time.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

“They have a contractor en route to make sure that the fuel is properly cleaned up,” Raines said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Steinem had an abortion at age 22, in London en route to India, but had never talked about it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

David Rudisha's 800m world record of one minute 40.91 seconds, set en route to gold at London 2012, survived unscathed as his Kenyan compatriot Emmanuel Wanyonyi came home in one minute 41.76 seconds.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

She had been dreaming that she was on a train, en route to her first job interview.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood