rail

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The system of travelling by train.

   We decided to travel across the country by rail.

2. 2
   noun

   A fixed bar that you can hold on to or hang things on.

   Hold the rail tightly as you go down the stairs.

3. 3
   verb

   To travel or send goods by train.

   Fresh vegetables are railed to the city every morning.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Rail for a bar or track goes back to Latin regula, “straight stick,” also the source of rule. It first referred to a fixed bar in a fence; wooden rails for vehicles appeared in the early 17th century, followed by railway and railroad. The verb rail, “complain bitterly,” is unrelated and ultimately derives from Latin rugire, “to roar.”

From Middle English rail, rayl, *reȝel, *reȝol (found in reȝolsticke (“a ruler”)), partly from Old English regol (“a ruler, straight bar”) and partly from Old French reille; both from Latin regula (“rule, bar”), from regō (“to rule, to guide, to govern”); see regular. Doublet of regal, regula, rigol, and rule.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary