Word of the Day

: May 29, 2021

inroad

noun IN-rohd

What It Means

1 : an advance or penetration often at the expense of someone or something — usually used in plural

2 : a sudden hostile incursion : raid

inroad in Context

"'These are no longer cars,' said Marc Rogers, the principal security researcher at the cybersecurity firm CloudFlare. 'These are data centers on wheels. Any part of the car that talks to the outside world is a potential inroad for attackers.'" — Nicole Perlroth, The New York Times, 7 June 2017

"Swatch Group on Thursday reported its first annual loss since the early days of the Swiss watchmaker almost 40 years ago as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered shops and smartwatches made inroads into the market." — John Revill, Reuters, 28 Jan. 2021

Did You Know?

Inroad is a combination of in and road, both of which are pretty mundane, as far as words go. But the first-and-oldest-meaning of inroad hints at a meaning of road other than the "way for traveling" one. Beginning back in the days of Old English, road referred to an armed hostile incursion made on horseback. (Raid comes from this use of road and also formerly specified incursions on horseback.) Road, as well as inroad, has lost its violent connotation. While inroads are often made at the expense of someone or something, they are at times simply advances, as when an artist is said to be "making inroads into a community."