Word.ws English Dictionary

by way of

by way of phrase: by the route of.

Phrase

by way of

  1. By the route of.
    • From Shakespeare to Milton by way of the English Bible, our language has been shaped by humanist ideas.
    • Intensity was more usually reached by way of the solemn than by way of the brilliant.1878, Thomas Hardy, chapter 1, in The Return of the Native
    Synonyms:
    through, via
  2. For the purpose of; as a means of; as an instance of; as a type or form of.
    • By way of apology, he tried to be gallant.
    • By way of qualification, I should point out that…
  3. (UK, often) Possessing the characteristics, nature, or standing of; in the state or condition of.
    • Thoreau, too, come to think of it, was, by way of being a prophet, a pioneer in this Emancipation of Man from Bothery.1898, H. G. Wells, “The Trouble of Life”, in Certain Personal Matters, pages 16–17
    • "From what you tell me, he's by way of being the brains of the family."1921, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Springtime

by way of meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Punjabi

by way of in Tamil

செய்யும் முறையில், செய்வதற்காக, முகத்தான்

by way of in Urdu

بطور

by way of in Punjabi

by way of, as
ਵਜੋਂ vajõ
by way of, as, in place of
ਬਤੌਰ bataur

Examples of by way of in a sentence

  • “I always go over the wall, by way of the plum tree,” said Matilda.1914, Saki (pseudonym; H. H. Munro), “The Boar-Pig”, in Beasts and Super-Beasts:
  • My name is Elle Woods, Boston by way of Bel Air.2003, Kate Kondell (screenplay), Legally Blonde 2 (motion picture), spoken by Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon):
  • Thus much may serve by way of proem: / Proceed we therefore to our poem.1731, Jonathan Swift, On the Death of Dr. Swift:
  • Why they hesitated I never could tell, unless they did it by way of a joke.1849, Edgar Allan Poe, Hop-Frog:

Synonyms of by way of

Forms of by way of

alternative formby the way of

Words formed from by way of

Questions about by way of

What does by way of mean?
By way of means by the route of.
What is by way of in Tamil?
By way of in Tamil is செய்யும் முறையில், செய்வதற்காக, முகத்தான். See By way of meaning in Tamil.
How do you use by way of in a sentence?
“I always go over the wall, by way of the plum tree,” said Matilda.
What part of speech is by way of?
By way of is a phrase.

Words near by way of in the dictionary

  1. by Toutatis
  2. by trade
  3. by turns
  4. by vice of
  5. by virtue of
  6. by way of
  7. by way of example
  8. by wire
  9. by your leave
  10. by your leaves
  11. by'm-by

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: by way of (page history and authors); by way of (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); by way of (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਬਤੌਰ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “by way of.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/by_way_of. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.