avant

Etymology

Abbreviated from avant-garde

Noun

avant (plural avants)

1. (obsolete) The front of an army; the vanguard.

References

• avant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1914

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French avant (“before, prior in time, forward”), from Late Latin abante (“before, in front of”) (compare Classical Latin ante (“before, in front of”)), from Latin ab (“of, from”) + ante (“before”). More at ante.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.vɑ̃/

• audio

  (file)

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Adverb

avant

1. beforehand; earlier

   Je l'avais fait avant. ― I had done it beforehand.

Preposition

avant

1. before (in time)

   Elle est arrivé un jour avant moi. ― She arrived one day before me.

   Il faut se laver avant de manger. ― You must wash before eating.

   Tais-toi avant que je ne te tue. ― Shut up before I kill you.

2. before (in space), in front of, ahead of

Noun

avant m (plural avants)

1. front

   l'avant d'une voiture ― The front of a car.

2. (sports) forward

Further reading

• “avant” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• vanta

Etymology

From Old French avant, from Late Latin abante (“before, in front of”), from Latin ab (“of, from”) + ante (“before”).

Adverb

avant

1. (Jersey) beforehand; earlier

Preposition

avant

1. (Jersey) before

Noun

avant m (plural avants)

1. (Jersey, nautical) bow

Etymology

From Late Latin abante (“before, in front of”), from Latin ab (“of, from”) + ante (“before”).

Adverb

avant

1. beforehand; earlier

Alternative forms

• (Sursilvan) avon
• (Sutsilvan) avànt
• (Puter) aunz, avaunt

Etymology

From Late Latin abante, from Latin ab + ante, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- (“front, forehead”).

Preposition

avant

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Vallader) before, beforehand
2. (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Vallader) ago