corridor

views updated May 09 2018

cor·ri·dor / ˈkôrədər; ˈkär-; -ˌdôr/ • n. a long passage in a building from which doors lead into rooms. ∎  a belt of land between two other areas, typically having a particular feature or giving access to a particular area: the valley provides the principal wildlife corridor between the uplands and the central urban area. ∎  a belt of land following a road, river, or other route of passage.ORIGIN: late 16th cent. (as a military term denoting a strip of land along the outer edge of a ditch, protected by a parapet): from French, from Italian corridore, alteration (by association with corridore ‘runner’) of corridoio ‘running place,’ from correre ‘to run,’ from Latin currere. The current sense dates from the early 19th cent.

corridor

views updated May 21 2018

corridor covered way XVI; outside gallery round a court, etc. XVII; passage through a building, etc. XIX. — F. — It. corridore, alt., by assim. to corridore runner, of corridoio :- Rom. *curritōrium, f. *currit-, for curs-, pp. stem of L. currere run (see CURRENT, -ORY 1).