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

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

Coen then led his team to nine victories in their last 10 games en route to the playoffs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

He turned onto Kapaa Quarry Road, en route to the Kapaa Industrial Park, where Normal has a second facility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

A few minutes after Pete and Kiev Schoening climbed past en route to their own Camp One, their teammate Charlotte Fox appeared.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer