Talk:under way

Removed the definition of 'moving through the water', as that is 'making way', not underway. My 'authority' is Bowditch. andrew8


 * May it not mean something like en route or in transit. From my point of view this word tends to seem to be the English word for the German unterwegs. At least in sense 2. Am I right? Ferike333 18:52, 30 August 2009 (UTC)


 * @Ferike333: only in sense 2.  That is, the sense of being en route only applies to nautical vessels.  For people, road traffic, horses, etc. once could use on the way, but never under way.
 * (But note that it's OK to say, "My bicycle journey was well under way", because the journey is a process, so sense 1 or 3 applies, not sense 2.)
 * —DIV (1.145.54.3 04:28, 4 December 2023 (UTC))

Etymology
If the etymology for underway is correct, then is this a newer term — perhaps created by a sort of backformation and/or folk etymology? Or was there parallel derivation? —DIV (1.145.54.3 04:31, 4 December 2023 (UTC))