Old English lane, lanu "narrow hedged-in road," common Germanic (cognates: Old Frisian lana, Middle Dutch lane, Dutch laan "lane, alley, avenue," Old Norse lön "small, oblong hayrick," in modern use "row of houses"), but of unknown origin. From early 15c. as "any well-defined track;" as "one track of a marked road" from 1921, American English.
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