Dictionary

by way of en · X

Meanings

1. By the route of.
   • My name is Elle Woods, Boston by way of Bel Air. 2003, Kate Kondell (screenplay), Legally Blonde 2 (motion picture), spoken by Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon):
   • Intensity was more usually reached by way of the solemn than by way of the brilliant. 1878, Thomas Hardy, chapter 1, in The Return of the Native:
   • In 1919, demobilisation specials from Purfleet, Essex, to the North, usually made up of nondescript, almost paintless or grey stock which had seen long wartime service, chalked with slogans, were worked through by way of Bromley and the North London line […]. 1950 April, R. A. H. Weight, “They Passed by My Window”, in Railway Magazine, pages 258-259:
   • From Shakespeare to Milton by way of the English Bible, our language has been shaped by humanist ideas.
   • “I always go over the wall, by way of the plum tree,” said Matilda. 1914, Saki (pseudonym; H. H. Munro), “The Boar-Pig”, in Beasts and Super-Beasts:
2. For the purpose of; as a means of; as an instance of; as a type or form of.
   • By way of qualification, I should point out that…
   • Why they hesitated I never could tell, unless they did it by way of a joke. 1849, Edgar Allan Poe, Hop-Frog:
   • By way of contrast there is an air of finality about the closure of the Welsh Highland Railway. 1949 November and December, “Notes and News: Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 409:
   • “So what's new in the whiskey business?” one of the fat men finally says by way of welcome, […] 1968, Joan Didion, “On Keeping a Notebook”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:
   • By way of apology, he tried to be gallant.
   • Considerable work had to be done by way of repairs and replacement of bricks and woodwork (doors, floors, skirtings and panelling) where these were too far gone to be salvageable, including reprofiling to match originals. 2023 December 13, Robin Leleux, “Restored... and a richly deserved award: Cullybackey”, in RAIL, number 998, page 39:
   • […] his two ill-conditioned, canine favorites, which sat shivering before the smoky little fire, barking shortly and sharply now and then, by way of hinting for some slight refreshment. 1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret:
   • Thus much may serve by way of proem: / Proceed we therefore to our poem. 1731, Jonathan Swift, On the Death of Dr. Swift:
3. (UK, followed by being, often) Possessing the characteristics, nature, or standing of; in the state or condition of.
   • "From what you tell me, he's by way of being the brains of the family." 1921, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Springtime:
   • Thoreau, too, come to think of it, was, by way of being a prophet, a pioneer in this Emancipation of Man from Bothery. 1898, H. G. Wells, “The Trouble of Life”, in Certain Personal Matters, pages 16–17:

Forms

Deriveds

by way of example

Relateds

by means of · beway · by dint of · in the way of

Synonyms

through · via

Translations (29)

pl drogą (by the route of, through, via) · fr pas loin de (possessing the characteristics, nature, or standing of) · es a fuer de (by the route of, through, via) · pl w ramach (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · it mercè (by the route of, through, via) · es a modo de (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · es a la manera de (by the route of, through, via) · it per via di (by the route of, through, via) · eo laŭ (by the route of, through, via) · fr du fait de (possessing the characteristics, nature, or standing of) · fr par (by the route of, through, via) · it per mezzo di (by the route of, through, via) · pl poprzez (possessing the characteristics, nature, or standing of) · es en concepto de (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · fr par le fait de (possessing the characteristics, nature, or standing of) · fr à titre de (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · fi kautta (by the route of, through, via) · de zu (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · it mediante (by the route of, through, via) · fr en passant par (by the route of, through, via) · fi tarkoitukseen (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · it tramite (by the route of, through, via) · fr par le biais de (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · fi kautta (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · fr en forme de (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · fr via (by the route of, through, via) · es a manera de (by the route of, through, via) · fr en guise de (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of) · fi avulla (for the purpose of, as a means or instance of)