pavement

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.

noun

1. (now chiefly in technical contexts) A paved surface; a hard covering on the ground.
2. (chiefly British) A paved path, for the use of pedestrians, located at the side of a road.
   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
3. (now chiefly Canada, US) 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
4. (now chiefly Canada, US) The paved part of an area other than a road or sidewalk, such as a cobblestone plaza, asphalt schoolyard or playground, or parking lot.
5. (architecture) The interior flooring of a church sanctuary, between the communion rail and the altar.