What's the difference between a street and a road? Although both terms are often applied to the same thing, a road is different from a street, at least in theory. Looking at the definitions and history of the usage of the words, the difference is a matter of place and purpose. And what about an avenue, a boulevard, a drive or a lane?
4 comment(s):
I live in "C...d Avenue" which has never had a single tree or shrub along it. In the next town there is the peculiarly named "Avenue Road" Huh??
Barry (England)
Nonsense. A street is a paved road. From the latin "via strata".
Yes, that's what it says in the article: streets are paved roads lined with houses and other buildings.
A street does not have to be lined with buildings. One of the oldest roads to bear the name street is Watling Street, so called because it was paved. Along most of it's length there were no buildings.
Very few English speaking places stick to the naming convention the author suggests. For example there are many roads bearing the name Avenue that are not straight and tree lined.
The article also ignores many of the common names for roads such as Grove, Close, Crescent, Mews, etc. All of those originally had some sort of meaning, but they are often not used in that way today.
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