advance

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ədˈvɑːns/, US /ədˈvæns/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English avauncen,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French avancier (“to move forward, go forward, set forward”) (modern French avancer),^[3][2] from Vulgar Latin *abantiāre,^[2][4][5] the source also of Italian avanzare and Spanish avanzar,^[3][6] from Late Latin abante (“from before, in front”),^[3][2] from ab (“from”) and ante (“before”),^[3][2] the latter from Proto-Indo-European *ant- (“front, forehead”).^[3] The -d- was inserted in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the initial a- was mistaken for the Latin prefix ad-,^[2][3][7] the same error that gave advantage.^[2] The noun is from the verb and partly from French avance.^[8][7] French avant “before”, as in avant-garde, is from the same Latin word.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle, “to move forward”, according to Barnhart;^[2] the mid-13th century in Etymonline,^[3] about 1230 in the OED, “to further, promote”.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

“To promote, raise to a higher rank” is from about 1300,^[3] the intransitive “to move forward” by the mid-14th century,^[3] and the transitive “to move something forward” from about 1500.^[3] “To give money before it is due” is from the 1670s.^[3] The noun first meant boasting, about 1300, a sense now archaic,^[3] and promotion in rank or wealth from the early 15th century.^[3] A move forward is from the 1670s,^[3] progress in a process from 1668,^[9][10] money paid beforehand from the 1680s,^[3] and a personal approach from the 1670s,^[3] hence advances, amorous overtures, from 1706.^[3] The adjective, as in advance warning, is from 1843 in Etymonline,^[3] 1701 in Merriam-Webster.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – to further, promote.^[9]
• c. 1300 – to raise in rank.^[3]
• mid-14th century – to move forward.^[3]
• 1668 – noun, progress.^[9][10]
• 1670s – to pay beforehand.^[3]
• 1706 – advances, overtures.^[3]
• 1843 – adjective.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To move or cause to move forward.
2. To put forward; to propose: advance a theory.
3. To help the progress of; to promote or raise in rank.
4. To make progress; to improve.
5. To cause to happen sooner.
6. To pay money or lend it before it is due.

Noun

1. The act of moving forward; a forward movement.
2. Progress or improvement: advances in medicine.
3. A rise in price or value.
4. Approaches made to win friendship, favour or love; overtures.
5. Money paid or lent beforehand.

Adjective

1. Made or given ahead of time: advance notice.
2. Going in front: an advance party.

Word family

• advancer
• advancingly
• advancement
• unadvancing
• advance directive
• advance guard
• advance man
• advance person

Related words

• advantage
• avant-garde
• ante-
• advanced

Usage notes

The American Heritage distinguishes the noun advance, forward movement or progress, from advancement, which is used mainly figuratively and often implies an outside agent: the advance of science is its progress, the advancement of science is progress brought about by someone.^[11]

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 f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin