the.com/pave
the verb that turned every shortcut into a road and every desire path into asphalt
means To cover a surface — a road, path, or yard — with a hard, durable material like stone, brick, concrete, or asphalt so it can be walked or driven on smoothly.
from From Old French 'paver,' to lay down a road, which traces back to Latin 'pavire' — to beat, ram, or tread down. The image is older than asphalt: a paved road began as earth and stone pounded flat underfoot. That same Latin root gives us 'pavement,' and the phrase 'to pave the way' carries the literal sense forward — flattening the ground so others can follow more easily.
- latin root
- from pavire, to beat down or ram flat
- good intentions
- the proverbial road to hell is paved with them
- desire paths
- planners now pave where people already walked
- first roads
- ancient Rome paved over 250,000 miles total
pave the way — martin luther king jr.'s famous phrase from his 1963 'i have a dream' speech about social progress
paved with good intentions — common proverb meaning hell is paved with good intentions, dating back to centuries of literature