pavement en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Middle English pament, from Anglo-Norman pavement and reinforced by Middle French pavement; both from Latin pavīmentum (“paved surface or floor”), from pavīre (“to beat, to ram, to tread down”). Morphologically pave + -ment.
Meanings
-
(uncountable, usually) A paved surface; a hard covering on the ground.
The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold.
1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
-
(Canada, Ireland, Mid-Atlantic, South-Africa, UK, US, countable, usually) A paved path, for the use of pedestrians, located at the side of a road.
It was a cold and rainy afternoon as Ethel Churchill sat at the window of their new abode, a house in one of the streets leading from the Strand to the river. It was the day after their arrival, and nothing could well be more gloomy than the view: the pavement was wet, and a yellow mist obscured every object,...
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Meeting of Old Friends”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 194:Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
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(Canada, US, uncountable, usually) A paving (paved part) of a road or other thoroughfare; the roadway or road surface.
The antirunway munitions are specifically designed to cause maximum destruction to airfield pavements.
1991, Airpower Journal 1911, page 45:89.2 million tons of RAP are used annually in new asphalt pavement construction in the United States.
(Can we date this quote?), “RAP Benefits for Pavement Owners”, in National Asphalt Pavement Association, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025, page 1:[H]e attempted to recover his importance, by haranguing upon the Roman highways, when Mr. Jolter desired the company to take notice of the fine pavement upon which they travelled from Paris into Flanders […].
1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
- (Canada, US, uncountable, usually) The paved part of an area other than a road or sidewalk, such as a cobblestone plaza, asphalt schoolyard or playground, or parking lot.
-
(uncountable, usually) Interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings.
...that took them to a brief rise of marble stairs that should've put them on the third-and-a-halfth floor if it'd been anywhere but Hogwarts, and then it was back to tiled stone pavement again, and...
2012, Eliezer Yudkowsky, chapter 71, in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality:
- (uncountable, usually) Interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings. ▸ The interior flooring of a church sanctuary, between the communion rail and the altar.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pavements | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
pavement pizza · pavement chalk · pavement cell · pavemental · nymph of the pavement · pavementing · pavement artist · burn pavement · moving pavement · Portuguese pavement · desert pavement · pavemented · pavement ant · pavement cafe · bumpy pavement · hit the pavement · pavementless · poultice pavement · pavement special · pavement epithelium · pavement princess · pound the pavement · pavement ape · limestone pavement · pavementlike · pavement café
Synonyms
footpath · trottoir · sidewalk
Translations (81)
cs vozovka (surface of road) · it manto (surface of road) · hu útburkolat (surface of road) · fr chaussée (surface of road) · he מִסָּעָה (surface of road) · sq anërrugë (surface of road) · uk мостова́ (surface of road) · fr pavement (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · es pavimento (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · uk брукі́вка (surface of road) · mk плочник (surface of road) · de Strassenpflaster (surface of road) · es pavimiento (surface of road) · nl plaveisel (surface of road) · uk асфа́льт (surface of road) · la pavīmentum (surface of road) · nn steinlegging (surface of road) · nb brolegging (surface of road) · sv stenläggning (surface of road) · ro pavaj (surface of road) · sh плочник (surface of road) · it pavimentazione stradale (surface of road) · cs dlažba (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · bg насти́лка (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · nl wegverharding (surface of road) · el πλακόστρωτο (surface of road) · de Asphalt (surface of road) · es pavimiento (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · be асфа́льт (surface of road) · nb brulegging (surface of road) · ru мостова́я (surface of road) · it pavimentazione (surface of road) · pt pavimento (surface of road) · ru асфа́льт (surface of road) · nl wegdek (surface of road) · es pavimento (surface of road) · be мастава́я (surface of road) · ckb بەردڕێز (surface of road) · be брук (surface of road) · he מִרְצֶפֶת (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · ca paviment (surface of road) · nl verharding (surface of road) · ru мощёный пол (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · de Straßenpflaster (surface of road) · de Steinpflaster (surface of road) · de Kopfsteinpflaster (surface of road) · bg насти́лка (surface of road) · hu kövezet (surface of road) · ru pol, výložennyj figúrnoj plítkoj, mozáikoj (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · de Straßenbelag (surface of road) · nb steinlegging (surface of road) · it manto stradale (surface of road) · pl nawierzchnia (surface of road) · pl bruk (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · fi tiepäällyste (surface of road) · bg пава́ж (surface of road) · syc ܪܨܦܐ (surface of road) · vi vỉa hè (surface of road) · de Pflaster (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · ia pavimento (surface of road) · pl bruk (surface of road) · da vejbelægning (surface of road) · id turapan (surface of road) · pon peip (surface of road) · fr revêtement (surface of road) · de Strassenbelag (surface of road) · gl pavimento (interior flooring, especially when of stone, of large buildings) · eo pavimo (surface of road) · sh pločnik (surface of road) · ms turapan (surface of road) · de Fahrbahndecke (surface of road) · gl pavimento (surface of road) · tr kaldırım (surface of road) · da brolægning (surface of road) · bg пло́чник (surface of road) · nn brulegging (surface of road) · nb brolegning (surface of road) · de Pflaster (surface of road) · nb brulegning (surface of road) · it superficie (surface of road) · fi päällyste (surface of road)