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Where does the word "macadam" come from? It comes from Scottish Gaelic Mac Adaim, and was adopted directly into English (1820s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "macadam" come from? It comes from Scottish Gaelic Mac Adaim, and was adopted directly into English (1820s).
Macadam’s story begins in Scottish Gaelic: Mac Adaim meant “son of Adam.” 'son of Adam', a Gaelic patronymic surname. It reached English by 1820s as macadam. After John Loudon McAdam of Ayr, whose 1816 Remarks on the Present System of Road Making laid out roads of compacted small stones; tar-bound 'tarmac' was patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1902. Today, macadam means a road surface of compacted broken stone, often bound with tar.
- Stage 1 · Scottish Gaelic · medieval Mac Adaim "son of Adam", 'son of Adam', a Gaelic patronymic surname.
- Stage 2 · English · 1820s macadam "road of compacted stone", after John Loudon McAdam of Ayr, whose 1816 Remarks on the Present System of Road Making laid out roads of compacted small stones; tar-bound 'tarmac' was patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1902.