gateway

[geyt-wey] /ˈgeɪtˌweɪ/

noun

an entrance or passage that may be closed by a gate.

a structure for enclosing such an opening or entrance.

any passage by or point at which a region may be entered:

New York soon became the gateway to America.

software or hardware that links two computer networks.

Origin

1700-10; gate¹ + way

Examples from the web for gateway

Beyond the gateway trellis, a new stone path leads to an expanded entry stairway.
The builder of the old gateway had no thought of its ever becoming a public thoroughfare.
In short, when it wanted but three days to summer, the only part that remained to be finished was the gateway.
The caves served as a gateway, and their walls were considered porous.
Such words make a closed clubhouse door out of what is mostly an inviting gateway into great fiction.
Research is moving online, and more and more users have moved away from thinking of the research library as the gateway to it.
They are not human but could mark the gateway to humanity.
Existing base stations tend to be linked directly to the network gateway, but not to other base stations.
Mobile phones, in particular, are an appealing gateway to the virtual world.
In this sense the moon really could be the gateway to the great beyond.

British Dictionary definitions for gateway

/ˈɡeɪtˌweɪ/

noun

an entrance that may be closed by or as by a gate

a means of entry or access: Mumbai, gateway to India

(modifier) allowing entry, access, or progress to a more extreme form: gateway drug, gateway drink

(computing) hardware and software that connect incompatible computer networks, allowing information to be passed from one to another

a software utility that enables text messages to be sent and received over digital cellular telephone networks

Contemporary definitions for gateway

noun

Word Origin and History for gateway

1707, from gate + way. Figurative use from 1842.

gateway in Technology

1. A deprecated term for a device that enables data to flow between different networks (forming an internet).
Preferred terms are "protocol converter" (connects networks that use different protocols), "router" (connects two broadcast networks at layer 3 (network layer). Another example is a mail gateway, which is a layer 7 (application layer) gateway.
2. An interface between an information source and a World-Wide Web server. Common Gateway Interface is a standard for such interfaces. The information source can be any system that can be accessed by a program running on the web server. A typical example is a relational database.
(2000-05-24)