means A long, flat strip of paved ground where aircraft accelerate to take off and slow down to land — or, by extension, the catwalk where models walk and the time you have left before something happens.

from A plain compound of 'run' and 'way,' literally a way for running along. 'Run' traces back to Old English 'rinnan/iernan,' to flow or move swiftly, with cousins all across the Germanic family; 'way' comes from Old English 'weg,' a path or road, related to Latin 'via.' The word existed for any running track or channel before aviation borrowed it in the early 20th century for the strips planes needed for their long sprint into the air; fashion later lifted it for the model's straight walk, and 'runway' as remaining time leans on the same image of a runout before liftoff.