What does ingress mean?
Ingress means the act of entering, a way into a place or system, and, in computing, incoming data or network traffic. The word is more formal than the everyday word entry and is especially common in technical language, where it can describe the route through which data enters a network or the controls used to regulate that movement. Historically, ingress was associated with movement inward, and the contrast with egress, meaning exit or outgoing movement, remains useful in architecture, transportation, security, and computing. For example, a building may have a controlled ingress for visitors, while a network administrator may inspect network ingress for unauthorized traffic. Although ingress can function as a verb in formal usage, it is most familiar today as a noun. Its Latin roots also connect it to words such as progress, regress, and digress, all of which involve the idea of moving or coming toward a particular direction or destination.
The act of entering, or a place or means of entry.
"The service tunnel is the only ingress to the site."
Formal; in computing, it also denotes incoming data or network traffic.
To enter or make an entry into a place or system.
"The train ingressed the station through the eastern tunnel."
Rare in modern English and more typical of formal or technical writing.
The plural is used when referring to multiple acts, routes, or points of entry.
"The site has several ingresses for emergency vehicles."
Ingress and egress share a Roman military ancestry: both come from Latin words for a step forward or a going out.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ingress
Ingress comes from Latin ingressus, a noun meaning “an entrance” or “a going in.” It was formed from in-, meaning “into,” and gressus, a form of gradus, meaning “a step” or “going.” The related Latin word egressus, meaning “a going out,” developed from ex-, meaning “out,” and the same root. English borrowed ingress in the 16th century, initially in the sense of an entrance or the act of entering.
Related word forms
How ingress is actually used
Ingress is formal and relatively uncommon in everyday speech, where entrance or entry is usually more natural. The computing sense is common in technical and cybersecurity contexts.
Easily confused with ingress
Ingress means the act or means of entering, whereas egress means the act or means of leaving.