O.E.
rad "riding, hostile incursion," from P.Gmc.
*ridanan, source of O.E.
ridan (see
ride). Also related to
raid. In M.E., "a riding, a journey," sense of "open way for traveling between two places" is first recorded 1596. Modern spelling only established 18c.
Roadblock is attested from 1940.
Roadster "open two-seat automobile" is from 1908, earlier of light carriages (1892), originally "a ship lying near the shore" (1744), which is from the nautical sense of "narrow stretch of sheltered water" (c.1320, cf.
Hampton Roads in Virginia).
Road test is from 1906.
Road hog is attested from 1891;
road rage is from 1988;
roadie "laborer employed by pop groups while on tour" first recorded 1969;
road kill (n.) in the figurative sense is from 1992.
[rohd] 
