meerweg

Meerweg is a Dutch toponym meaning sea road. It is used as a street name in several coastal towns and in rural areas in the Netherlands and the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. The term combines meer, sea, with weg, road, and historically referred to routes along the coast that connected inland settlements with harbors, ferries or fishing grounds. Such routes often ran along dunes, dikes or floodplains and could form components of early coastal infrastructure for trade, defense or fishery logistics.

In modern usage, Meerweg appears mainly as a street name rather than as a distinct administrative entity. While some Meerwegen lie close to the coast, others are inland roads that retain the historical appellation. The name illustrates how geographic features and economic activity shaped place-names in Dutch-speaking regions.

In the Netherlands, the form is common enough to be recognizable in municipal street grids; in Belgium, similar naming occurs in Flemish municipalities near the coast or river mouths. The term is one of several toponymic patterns built from weg with geographic qualifiers, such as duinweg (dune road) or kustweg (coast road). See also related toponyms and linguistic notes on Dutch toponymy.