Motorway is a term for both a type of road and a classification or designation. Motorways are high capacity highways designed to carry fast motor traffic safely. In the UK they are predominantly dual-carriageway roads, with two, three or four lanes in each direction, and all have grade-separated access, comparable with North American freeways and expressways.
In English-speaking countries the term is used in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, some other Commonwealth nations, and Ireland. In Ireland, a road built to motorway standard, but without the designation (and the regulations and traffic restrictions resulting from that designation), is known as a high quality dual carriageway.