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

BBC News understands four copies of the Dutch language edition were taken from a truck while it was en route from the Dutch publisher's printers to their warehouse.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 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

He had been en route to China when the disaster struck.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

But some friends I had made in the Holy Land had urged and insisted that I make some stops en route and I had agreed.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey