means A prepared track or way along which people, animals, and vehicles travel between places.

from From Old English 'rad,' meaning a riding or a journey on horseback — the same root that gives us 'ride' and 'raid' (originally just a 'ride' that happened to be hostile). For centuries a 'road' was the act of traveling, not the strip of ground itself; only later did the word settle onto the path beneath the hooves. So a road still carries the ghost of motion in its name.