way stationn.
/ˈweɪˌsteɪʃn/, U.S. /ˈweɪˌsteɪʃən/ U.S.
1. An intermediate station or stop on a travel route, esp. a railway.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > station > other types
stopping station1840
way station1840
flag-station1852
by-station1864
transfer station1869
junction1876
stationette1891
station house1891
halt1910
stub station1916
ghost station1928
whistle-stop1934
parkway1972
1840 Monthly Chron. 1 405 We annex a further description of the mode of working the London and Blackwall railway..for the accommodation of way stations.
1854 Harper's Mag. Mar. 566/2 The boats touched at most of the prominent towns on the river, to land such passengers as might desire to disembark at ‘way-stations’.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 67 This was only what is called a way station. There was nothing but a section house and a long siding, besides the usual offices.
1912 F. J. Haskin Amer. Govt. 210 Cities which are to-day mere way stations on the international routes of trade will grow into rich world centers.
1944 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 21 July 1/8 The island [sc. Guam]..formerly served as a way-station on the trans-Pacific airroute to the East.
1976 N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone vi. 134 It was..a way station carefully restored and preserved to offer at least a semblance of its original state.
1999 N. N. Feltes This Side Heaven iv. 111 The way-stations along the Buffalo and Lake Huron railway.
2012 A. Eger in P. Cobb Lineaments of Islam iv. 444 The northern and central enclosures were built up in the early ʿAbbāsid period as part of the system of waystations on frontier routes.
2. In extended use. A point marking progress in a certain course of action. Also: a place, matter or event of secondary importance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > a stage in a process or development
degreec1230
greea1340
steadc1370
pointc1475
nick1649
stadium1669
notch1670
grade1796
step1811
milestone1820
way station1863
1863 G. McHenry Position & Duty Pennsylvania 11 Pennsylvania..has in no manner kept pace with her sister States in the attainment of wealth and importance... She has been merely a way station. Why should she not become the terminus?
1892 Congress. Rec. 23 Mar. 2462/2 ‘Will the gentleman allow me to ask him a question?’.. ‘The gentleman will excuse me. On a fast schedule I can not stop at way stations.’
1926 Jrnl. Compar. Neurol. 40 217 A group of nuclei which serve as way-stations between the tectal areas and other centers.
1948 A. Menjou & M. M. Musselman It took Nine Tailors 10 She thought a theater was just a way station on the road to perdition.
1973 Sci. Amer. July 52/1 Lymphocytes are found in high concentrations in the lymph nodes, way stations along the lymphatic vessels.
2006 New Scientist 30 Sept. 56/2 The extremists among the evangelical community really do see the world as just a way station.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1840