avenue

Forms

avenue f (plural avenues)^[1] Anglo-Norman avenu, avenew and avenw.^[2] In 1549 it is spelled advenue.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Old French avenir (“to come, arrive”): Old French made a noun of its feminine past participle, avenue (“arrival, approach”).^{[4][3][5][6][7]} The verb is from Latin adveniō (“to come to, arrive at”), from ad- (“to”) and veniō (“to come”).^[1][8] The form advenir is a refashioning of the same verb after Latin (1239).^[4]

Bloch and Wartburg compare the sense development of allée, which is also a past participle used as a noun.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old French (1160) it meant “approach, coming”, as of invaders, a sense that lasted until the 16th century.^[4] Anglo-Norman texts of 1273–82 have it for “arrival, coming” and the first appearance of the new moon, and also for “access” and “means of entry”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Before 1475 Chastellain uses it for a place by which one arrives: a gate, a passage, an opening.^[4] From this came the figurative “way of access”, already in Montaigne, and les avenues de la fortune (16th century).^[4][9] Rabelais has it in 1549 in the modern sense of a way of approach.^[7][6][3]

Common in the classical period, the sense narrowed in 1611 to a walk lined with trees, especially one leading to a house.^[4] At the end of the 19th century it came to mean a wide city street, competing with boulevard.^[4] The Old French sense “event” (late 12th century) was already archaic in the 16th century.^[4]

English took avenue about 1600 as a military word for “a way of approach”, later “a way of approach to a country house” lined with trees.^[8]

Timeline

• 1160 – First record, “approach, coming”.^[4]
• Late 12th century – Used for “event”.^[4]
• 1273–82 – Anglo-Norman records with the sense “arrival”.^[2]
• Before 1475 – Chastellain uses it for a place by which one arrives.^[4]
• 1549 – Rabelais uses it in the modern sense.^[7][6][3]
• c. 1600 – English borrows avenue.^[8]
• 1611 – Used for a tree-lined walk.^[4]
• 1694 – The Académie's dictionary has the military sense “way of access to a place”.^[6]
• Late 19th century – Used for a wide city street.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wide city street, usually lined with trees.^[5][10][1]
2. A broad, straight drive lined with trees, leading to a house or a public building.^[5][10][6]
3. (classical) A way of access to a place.^[6][9]
4. (figurative, literary) A way leading to something: les avenues de la fortune.^[5][6][9]

Related words

• avenir
• advenir
• avènement
• venir
• Latin adveniō
• English avenue

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)