A freeway is a very wide, fast road in the United States, built so cars can travel a long way without stopping at traffic lights. Other cars join and leave only at special ramps. In American English this is the everyday word; British English usually says motorway for the same kind of road. Highway is a broader word; a freeway is one kind of highway. The free first meant you did not pay a toll, and the road was free of cars crossing in front of you. Though actually, some roads still called freeways now do have tolls. People keep the word for the type of road — fast, wide, no lights — not strictly “no money.”