Macadam
/məˈkædəm/noun
A road surface made from compacted layers of small stones, often bound with tar or asphalt.
Did you know?The word came from Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam, whose early-19th-century road-building method became so influential that his family name entered everyday English.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
ʾĀdām
“Adam; human being, traditionally associated with the earth or soil”
Medieval Scotland
Scots Gaelic
MacAdhaimh
“Son of Adam; a patronymic surname”
18th Century
English
McAdam
“The surname of Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam”
Early 19th Century
English
macadam
“A road-making system using carefully graded and compacted layers of broken stone”
Modern English
English
macadam
“A compacted stone road surface, especially one later bound with tar or asphalt”