trottoir

le trottoir (FR N-M ARCH) grounds where one trotted one's horses; elevated path alongside quais and / or bridges; (modern, 1835) sidewalk, the slightly elevated path for pedestrians that runs alongside a street. Known in antiquity, sidewalks disappeared in Europe during the Middle Ages, in favor of a system of grading to the center of the unpaved streets, which carried rainwater, runoff, and the ever-present sewage. The sidewalk was reintroduced in England in the 18th century, coming to France…