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

It’s the reset I reach for when I know groceries are en route and the counters feel a little gritty, a little sticky from a day of recipe testing.

From Salon • May 5, 2026

Years before the project began, migrating ospreys had been spotted in Poole Harbour, en route from Scotland to their wintering grounds in north Africa.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

In October, Marimar Martinez, en route to a Chicago church to donate clothes, saw an unmarked vehicle she suspected was carrying federal agents.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

It also seized an Iranian-flagged ship, the M/V Touska External link, which was en route to Iran’s Bandar Abbas on Sunday, after it failed to comply with warnings over a six-hour period, U.S.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

If something goes wrong with the rover's computer en route, I'll have a spare.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir