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While reading Paulo Coelho's novel, I came across a word that left me doubting whether it was of English origin. Following is the sentence:
She fell in love for the first time when she was eleven, en route from her house to school.
What is the meaning of the word en?
Please elaborate on its meaning, origin and usage.
The en here doesn't mean anything except as part of 'en route', which is imported from French and means 'on or along the way'. See http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enroute. There are other phrases of this kind, such as 'en banc' or 'en prise'.
There is another word 'en' which is printer's jargon and means the width on the page occupied by the letter 'n' (and is half an 'em').
The word 'en' is actually of French origin. It can mean 'on', 'in', 'inside' or 'along' depending on context. The disambiguation page on Wikipedia says : "En route is a French phrase which means "on the way" or "along the way". "
