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Etymology and origin of the English word advert

advert1 to refer, turn attention

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1425 Lydgate, Troy Book
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman avertir via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin vertō

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ædvˈɜːt/[1]
  • US: /ædvˈɝt/[1]

Etymology

The verb for turning one's attention is inherited from Middle English averten, also adverten,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman avertir, also advertir,[5][2] from Vulgar Latin *advertiō, a change of conjugation from Latin advertō (“to turn or direct toward; to pay attention”),[5][2] from which the OED holds it was also partly taken directly.[5] The Latin verb is formed from ad- (“to”) and vertō (“to turn”).[5][6][3] The d was restored in the 16th century after the Latin spelling and partly under the influence of Middle French advertir.[3][6] The OED notes that French forms of that Latin verb and of āvertō, the source of avert, became identical, and that advertise was originally a doublet of this verb.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To turn one's attention, to take notice: about 1425, in Lydgate's Troy Book.[5] Barnhart dates the same text to before 1420,[3] and Etymonline dates averten, "to turn something aside", to the mid-15th century.[6]

Semantic evolution

Early use was mostly about noticing: the verb could be transitive, "to observe or heed something" (about 1425 to 1816), and in Scots it could mean "to inform or warn" (1511–1666).[5] Johnson (1755) still defined it as "to attend to; to regard; to observe", used with to.[7] The sense of turning to a topic in speech or writing is recorded from 1765, and the OED calls it the most common sense now.[5][8][6] The Shorter Oxford marks the older sense "to take heed" as archaic.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – to turn one's attention, to take notice; to observe or heed something.[5]
  • 1511 – in Scots, to inform or warn (obsolete by 1666).[5]
  • 1765 – to refer to something in speech or writing.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To refer or allude to something in speech or writing: The chairman adverted briefly to last year's losses.[9][2][5]
  2. (archaic) To turn one's attention to something; to take heed.[8][2][5]
  3. (obsolete, c. 1425–1816) To observe or note something.[5][8]
  4. (obsolete, 1511–1666) To inform or warn a person.[5][8]

Word family

  • advertence
  • advertency
  • advertent
  • inadvertent

advert2 advertisement

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1814 Collections of the New York Historical Society
Ultimate origin
Middle French avertissement
Etymology tree of advert2
inherited borrowed derived
English advertisement
English advert
From the same root · advert2
English ad ← advertisement

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈædvɜːt/[1]
  • US: /ˈædvɝt/[1]

Etymology

The word for a public notice is a clipping from English advertisement.[5][2][9][8][6] Etymonline connects it with a print abbreviation attested by 1855.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An advertisement: 1814, in the Collections of the New York Historical Society.[5][2] Etymonline dates it to by 1860,[6] and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English to the mid-19th century.[8][10]

Timeline

  • 1814 – an advertisement.[5][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (chiefly British, informal) An advertisement: She saw an advert for the job in the local paper.[9][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Advert.” Etymologically, 5 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/advert. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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