vanguard

[van-gahrd]

noun

1. the foremost division or the front part of an army; advance guard; van.

2. the forefront in any movement, field, activity, or the like.

3. the leaders of any intellectual or political movement.

4. (initial capital letter),  a U.S. three-stage, satellite-launching rocket, the first two stages powered by liquid-propellant engines and the third by a solid-propellant engine.

vanguard

/ ˈvænˌɡɑːd /

noun

1. the leading division or units of a military force

2. the leading position in any movement or field, or the people who occupy such a position

   the vanguard of modern literature

Word History and Origins

Origin of vanguard¹

First recorded in 1480–90; earlier van(d)gard(e), from Middle French avangarde, variant of avant-garde; avaunt, guard

Word History and Origins

Origin of vanguard¹

C15: from Old French avant-garde, from avant- fore- + garde _guard

Example Sentences

New Mexico’s efforts put it at the vanguard of a popular, but expensive, concept on the left.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s one thing for equity markets to suffer a general pullback. But it’s quite another to see stocks at the vanguard of AI development getting trashed,” he added.

Read more on Barron's

An internal university email from August of that year, seen by the BBC, said China's foreign ministry had issued a statement "denouncing us as being in the 'disreputable vanguard of anti-China rhetoric'".

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As a result, an institution with an illustrious record of solving the hardest problems in space now faces a daunting task here on Earth: reclaiming its place at the vanguard of exploration and innovation.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But add up the dozen or so other countries that form the supposed vanguard of this new world order: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan.

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