What does traffic mean?
Traffic most often means the movement of vehicles and people on roads or other routes, as in “traffic was heavy.” It can refer to that flow collectively, to congestion, or to the volume of messages and data moving through a communications network. In legal and journalistic contexts, “traffic in” goods means trade, especially illegal trade in drugs, weapons, or people. The noun is usually treated as a mass quantity, although “traffics” is occasionally used for separate flows or categories. As a verb, traffic can mean to carry goods or people, transmit data, or, in the phrase “traffic in narcotics,” to engage in unlawful trading. These uses are related by the idea of passage: traffic is something moving from one place or person to another. In everyday British and American English, road traffic is the dominant sense and is neutral in tone, though “heavy traffic” often implies inconvenience or delay. The word’s history is unusually broad, having shifted from commerce and the movement of goods to the modern movement of road users and electronic information.
The movement of vehicles, pedestrians, passengers, or other people through a place, especially along roads; by extension, the amount or flow of that movement. Also the transmission of data over a network, or illegal trade in goods.
"Traffic was heavy on the motorway after the accident."
Usually a mass noun. The plural “traffics” is uncommon but can distinguish separate flows or categories, especially in technical usage.
To carry or transport goods or people; to pass messages or data across a network; or to engage in the illegal buying and selling of goods, especially drugs.
"The network traffics enormous quantities of data every day."
“Traffic in” is especially common for illegal drug or weapons trading. The sense of carrying legitimate goods is less common than the noun’s road sense.
Rare in ordinary usage. Traffic is normally a mass noun, though the plural can be used in technical contexts to refer to distinct flows or categories.
"Different networks handle voice and video traffics differently."
The word once meant the movement of trade, so today's traffic is literally the descendant of commerce.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does traffic come from?
English traffic came through Old French trafique from Medieval Latin trafficus, meaning “trade” or “dealing.” The Latin word was ultimately connected with transire, “to pass across,” formed from trans- (“across”) and ire (“to go”). Traffic later extended from trade and the movement of goods to the movement of vehicles and people, and the communications sense developed with electronic networks.
Related word forms
How traffic is actually used
In everyday British and American English, the road sense is dominant. The noun is normally treated as a mass quantity, while the plural is rare and mainly used in technical contexts. The phrase “traffic in” can be legitimate trade or, with drugs, weapons, or people, illegal trade.