When the term turnpike was first introduced in the English language in 1420 CE, it initially referred to a spiked barrier placed across a road to prevent mounted attacks. By the seventeenth century, this definition evolved to include a type of barrier that was raised on roads until a toll was paid, and eventually to encompass any toll expressway. The word itself is a combination of turn and pike (referring to the spiked weapon), as the original turnpikes were often positioned at turns and made of pikes. Turn, derived from Old French torner, can be traced back to Latin tornus meaning “lathe”, which originates from Ancient Greek tornos with the same meaning. On the other hand, pike, also responsible for the name of the fish due to its physical resemblance, comes from Old French pic meaning “sharp point”, with multiple proposed etymologies.
