avenue (n.)

c. 1600, "a way of approach" (originally a military word), from French avenue "way of access" (16c.), from Old French avenue "act of approaching, arrival," noun use of fem. of avenu, past participle of avenir "to come to, arrive," from Latin advenire "to come to, reach, arrive at," from ad "to" (see ad-) + venire "to come" (from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwa- "to go, come").

The meaning was extended to "a way of approach to a country-house," usually a straight path bordered by trees, hence, "a broad, tree-lined roadway" (1650s), then to "wide, main street" (by 1846, especially in U.S.). By late 19c. in U.S. cities it was used to form the names of streets without reference to character.

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to avenue

ad-

word-forming element expressing direction toward or in addition to, from Latin ad "to, toward" in space or time; "with regard to, in relation to," as a prefix, sometimes merely emphatic, from PIE root *ad- "to, near, at."

Simplified to a- before sc-, sp- and st-; modified to ac- before many consonants and then re-spelled af-, ag-, al-, etc., in conformity with the following consonant (as in affection, aggression). Also compare ap- (1).

In Old French, reduced to a- in all cases (an evolution already underway in Merovingian Latin), but French refashioned its written forms on the Latin model in 14c., and English did likewise 15c. in words it had picked up from Old French. In many cases pronunciation followed the shift.

Over-correction at the end of the Middle Ages in French and then English "restored" the -d- or a doubled consonant to some words that never had it (accursed, afford). The process went further in England than in France (where the vernacular sometimes resisted the pedantic), resulting in English adjourn, advance, address, advertisement (Modern French ajourner, avancer, adresser, avertissement). In modern word-formation sometimes ad- and ab- are regarded as opposites, but this was not in classical Latin.

*gwa-

*gwā-, also *gwem-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to go, come."

It forms all or part of: acrobat; adiabatic; advent; adventitious; adventure; amphisbaena; anabasis; avenue; base (n.) "bottom of anything;" basis; become; circumvent; come; contravene; convene; convenient; convent; conventicle; convention; coven; covenant; diabetes; ecbatic; event; eventual; hyperbaton; hypnobate; intervene; intervenient; intervention; invent; invention; inventory; juggernaut; katabatic; misadventure; parvenu; prevenient; prevent; provenance; provenience; revenant; revenue; souvenir; subvention; supervene; venire; venue; welcome.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit gamati "he goes," Avestan jamaiti "goes," Tocharian kakmu "come," Lithuanian gemu, gimti "to be born," Greek bainein "to go, walk, step," Latin venire "to come," Old English cuman "come, approach," German kommen, Gothic qiman.

Trends of avenue

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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boulevard

1769, "broad street or promenade planted with rows of trees," from French boulevard, originally "top surface of a military rampart" (15c.), from a garbled attempt to adopt Middle Dutch bolwerc "wall of a fortification" (see bulwark) into French, which at that time lacked a -w- in

arcade

passages formed by a succession of arches supported on piers or pillars, avenues of trees, and ultimately to any covered avenue...

midway

Meaning "central avenue of a fairground" is first recorded 1893, American English, in reference to the Midway Plaisance of...

shoppe

As a matter of fact, 732 Eighth Avenue is nothing more nor less than a good old-fashioned midnight lunch-room camouflaged...

Madison

Madison Avenue "values and business of advertising and public relations" is attested by 1954, from the street in Manhattan...

rinky-dink

I found an officer on the corner of Twenty-fifth street and Sixth avenue. I said, "Officer, I have got the rinky-dink."...

razzle-dazzle

The name was evidently a hit of the most patent character, for in several avenue and Broadway stores the clerks have thrown...

attack

c. 1600, "assault, assail, begin hostilities against," from French attaquer (16c.), from Florentine Italian attaccare (battaglia) "join (battle)," thus the word is a doublet of attach, which was used 15c.-17c. also in the sense now reserved to attack. The meaning "endeavor to bri

approach

c. 1300, "to go or come near" in place; by late 14c. as "come near" in time, also "come near in quality or character, resemble, become similar," from Anglo-French approcher, Old French aprochier "come closer" (12c., Modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropiare, adpropiare

tester

"one who tests, puts to trial, or assays," 1660s, agent noun from test (v.). Earlier "a crucible" for trying metals by heating them (mid-15c.)...."canopy over a four-post bed," mid-14c., from Medieval Latin testerium, from testera "head-stall" of the bridle of a horse, extended u

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updated on December 09, 2020

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