Etymologically
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This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:37. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is a shortening of advertisement.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An advertisement: 1841, in Thackeray,[2][3][6] though Merriam-Webster dates it 1799.[4]

Semantic evolution

The shortening was long resisted in the advertising trade, and Mencken (1945) reports that the president of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World called it “the language of bootblacks”.[3] Adman is from 1909.[2] In tennis ad is short for advantage, from 1928, as in ad in and ad out.[6][7] American slang ad for a drug addict is from 1938.[6]

Timeline

  • 1799 – Merriam-Webster's first date.[4]
  • 1841 – ad, in Thackeray.[2][6]
  • 1909 – adman.[2]
  • 1928 – in tennis, advantage.[6]
  • 1938 – a drug addict.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An advertisement.
  2. (tennis) Advantage.

Word family

  • admass
  • adperson
  • adman
  • classified ad
  • want ad
  • advertisement
  • advert
  • advertise

Usage notes

Old English had an unrelated ād meaning “a fire, a funeral pyre”, recorded before 900.[6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin