way

Etymology 1

From Middle English way, wey, from Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Doublet of voe and possibly via.

noun

1. (heading) To do with a place or places.
   1. A road, a direction, a (physical or conceptual) path from one place to another.
      Do you know the way to the airport?  Come this way and I'll show you a shortcut.  It's a long way from here.
      the season and ways very improper for his Majesty's forces to march so great a distance
      I was on my way to the door, but all at once, through the fog in my head, I began to sight one reef that I hadn't paid any attention to afore. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
      "It's a long way to Tipperary, / it's a long way to go." [It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, a marching and music hall song by Jack Judge and Henry "Harry" James Williams, popularized especially by British troops in World War One]
      "Do you know the way to San Jose?" [song title and lyrics, Bacharach and David]
      Risk is everywhere.[…]For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles”[…]aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks. 2013-06-22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76
   2. A means to enter or leave a place.
      We got into the cinema through the back way.
      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. A roughly-defined geographical area.
      If you're ever 'round this way, come over and visit me.
2. A method or manner of doing something; a mannerism.
   You're going about it the wrong way.  He's known for his quirky ways.  I don't like the way she looks at me.
   […] That woman is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh.[…]If she had her way, she’d ruin the company inside a year with her hare-brained schemes ; love of the people, and that sort of guff. 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
   […]his lordship was out of humour. That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the ill-fortune to serve. Stiff-rumped, that's what he was, always rubbing the rust, or riding grub, like he had been for months past. 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
   An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine. 2013-06-01, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)
   1. (with 'the', usually with modifier) A set of values and customs associated with and seen as central to the identity of a group of people.
      10 June 23, Patricia Murphy, “OPINION: ‘Atlanta way’ long gone as city leaders face death threats over training center”, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
3. A state or condition
   When I returned home, I found my house and belongings in a most terrible way.
4. (heading) Personal interaction.
   1. Possibility (usually in the phrases 'any way' and 'no way').
      There's no way I'm going to clean up after you.
   2. Determined course; resolved mode of action or conduct.
      My little sister always whines until she gets her way.
5. (Germanic paganism) A tradition within the modern pagan faith of Heathenry, dedication to a specific deity or craft, Way of wyrd, Way of runes, Way of Thor etc.
   To walk the Way of the Runes, you must experience the runes as they manifest both in the part of Midgard that lies outside yourself and the worlds within. (Diana Paxson)
6. (nautical, uncountable) Speed, progress, momentum.
   Ten minutes into the run Tang slowed, Welch calling out her speed as she lost way. 1977, Richard O'Kane, Clear the Bridge: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang, Ballantine Books, published 2003, page 343
7. A degree, an amount, a sense.
   In a significant way, crocodiles and alligators are similar.
   That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
8. (US, As the head of an interjectory clause, followed by an infinitive starting with “to”) Acknowledges that a task has been done well, chiefly in expressions of sarcastic congratulation.
   Way to ruin the moment, guys.
   Jimmy leaned forward holding his ear, the personification of naïveté, looking as young as a baby with his oh-so-innocent face. “Oh, way to get us busted, Jimmy,” Curt hissed under his breath. 2001, Joshua Nedelman, The Garden of Eastern, page 36
   Oh, way to start a rumor, Hope. Angel glared the silent statement at her sister. 2009, Linda Winfree, Fall in Me, page 165
   "Oh, way to care about how I feel." His voice took on an exaggerated “Valley Girl” tone. 2012, Nancy Manther, A Charmed Life
9. (plural only) The timbers of shipyard stocks that slope into the water and along which a ship or large boat is launched.
   By the time the Mauretania was ready for launching a total weight of 16,800 tons was standing in the berth, and this represented the heaviest weight that had ever been sent down the ways up to that time. 1912, Fredrick A. Talbot, Steamship Conquest of the World, page 36
10. (plural only) The longitudinal guiding surfaces on the bed of a planer, lathe, etc. along which a table or carriage moves.

intj

1. (slang, only in reply to no way) yes; it is true; it is possible
   - We searched the vehicle. It was clean, so we did the body cavity searches. - No way. 1992, Wayne's World (film)
   We repeated this ritual of “no way - way, no way - way” over the years. 2011, William Schwenn, Dogs of Meadowbrook

verb

1. (obsolete) To travel.
   on a time as they together way'd, / He made him open chalenge[…]. 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.ii
   Laötze says, “The Name that can be named is not the Eternal Name. The Way that can be wayed, is not the Eternal Way.” Infinite wisdom is beyond the human power to understand. 1919, Gotō Shinpei, "Japanese Statesman on Christian Missions", The Missionary Review, Volume 42, p. 660

Etymology 2

Apheresis of away.

adv

1. (informal, with comparative or modified adjective) Much.
   I'm way too tired to do that.
   I'm a way better singer than Emma.
   It turns out that's way more gain than you need for a keyboard, but you don't have to use all of it to benefit from the sonic characteristics. 2006, Keyboard, volume 32, numbers 1-6, page 132
   Porcine dermal collagen is similar to human dermal collagen biochemically. In mouse skin, the dermis is once again way thinner than in humans. 22:19, 18 April 2023 (UTC) (last accessed), “Top differences between human and animal skin”, in Genoskin
2. (slang, with positive adjective) Very.
   I'm way tired.
   String theory is way cool, except for the math.
   With all the way cool boys out there, what if you don't recognize them because you don't know what to look for? Or, what if you have a chance to pick a perfect Prince and you end up with a yucky Frog instead? 2005, Erika V. Shearin Karres, Crushes, Flirts, & Friends: A Real Girl's Guide to Boy Smarts, page 16
3. (informal) Far.
   I used to live way over there.
   The farmhouse is way down the bottom of the hill.
   A number of Dundee businessmen commuted across the bridge from their homes in Wormit, and some became concerned at the speeds that trains were crossing the bridge. Ex-Dundee Provost William Robertson timed one train at 43mph, way in excess of the 25mph speed limit. September 23 2020, Paul Bigland, “The tragic tale of the Tay Bridge disaster”, in Rail, page 81

adj

1. (informal, attributive) Extreme, far
   Sitting in the way back of the bus
   some day in the way future me and @HowdyDuda are gonna have to come for a visit… 19 Aug 22, @DazzlerAOA, Twitter
   This will be a funny one with Snow’s 2 1st rounders going to be at the way bottom while 2 of his mid round picks will be towards the very top. 10 July 23, @JLoading06, Twitter

Etymology 3

From the sound it represents, by analogy with other (velar) letters such as kay and gay.

noun

1. The letter for the w sound in Pitman shorthand.