advantage

[ad-van-tij, -vahn-]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR advantage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any state, circumstance, opportunity, or means specially favorable to success, interest, or any desired end: the advantage of a good education.

benefit; gain; profit: It will be to his advantage to learn Chinese before going to China.

superiority or ascendancy (often followed by over or of): His height gave him an advantage over his opponent.

a position of superiority (often followed by over or of): their advantage in experienced players.

Tennis. the first point scored after deuce.

verb (used with object), ad·van·taged, ad·van·taging.

to be of service to; yield profit or gain to; benefit.

to cause to advance; further; promote: Such action will advantage our cause.

to prove beneficial to; profit: It would advantage him to work harder.

Idioms

have the advantage of, to be in a superior or advantageous position; possess an advantage over: By virtue of independent wealth, he has the advantage of his opponents.

take advantage of,

to make use of for gain: to take advantage of an opportunity.
to impose upon, especially unfairly, as by exploiting a weakness: to take advantage of someone.

to advantage, to good effect; advantageously: The paintings were arranged to advantage on one wall.

Origin of advantage

1300–50; Middle English ava(u)ntage < Anglo-French, Old French avantage, equivalent to avant before (see advance) + -age -age; for ad- see advance

Synonyms for advantage

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR advantage ON THESAURUS.COM

6. serve, avail, help, aid.

Synonym study

2. Advantage, benefit, profit all mean something that is of use or value. Advantage is anything that places one in an improved position, especially in coping with competition or difficulties: It is to one's advantage to have traveled widely. Benefit is anything that promotes the welfare or improves the state of a person or group: a benefit to society. Profit is any valuable, useful, or helpful gain: profit from trade or experience.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for advantage

influence, recognition, wealth, lead, profit, support, improvement, favor, asset, interest, dominance, return, power, choice, protection, preference, leverage, convenience, edge, superiority

Examples from the Web for advantage

Contemporary Examples of advantage

In a remote location with little means for economic development, the Brogpas have cultivating this identity to their advantage.
The Himalayas’ Hidden Aryans
Nina Strochlic
January 3, 2015
You also say that you think your condition gave you an advantage in some ways.
Tim Howard’s Wall of Intensity
William O’Connor
December 22, 2014
By 2014, that advantage still existed but was statistically meaningless: 47 percent Republican, 44 percent Democratic.
Rubio’s Embargo Anger Plays to the Past
Michael Tomasky
December 19, 2014
That contrasts with a 49 to 48 percent advantage for Democrats in the other 37 states.
Seriously, Democrats: You’re Done in Dixie
Michael Tomasky
December 10, 2014
“People feel that these crowded areas play to their advantage—it provides this sense of a cover,” he said.
How to Get Away With Stealing $2 Million in Jewelry in the Heart of New York
John Surico
November 13, 2014

Historical Examples of advantage

Every advantage of education is to be procured by the same means.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
As to the advantage of birth, that is of his side, above any man who has been found out for me.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
Tranter well knew his advantage and lost no time in putting it to use.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
It has the advantage over other puddings in that it is inexpensive.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
(a) What is the advantage of serving milk or cream with cereals?
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 1
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

British Dictionary definitions for advantage

advantage

noun

(often foll by over or of) superior or more favourable position or powerhe had an advantage over me because of his experience

benefit or profit (esp in the phrase to one's advantage)

tennis

the point scored after deuce
the resulting state of the score

take advantage of

to make good use of
to impose upon the weakness, good nature, etc, of; abuse
to seduce

to advantage to good effecthe used his height to advantage at the game

you have the advantage of me you know me but I do not know you

Word Origin for advantage

C14: avantage (later altered to advantage on the model of words beginning with Latin ad-), from Old French avant before, from Latin abante from before, away. See advance

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for advantage

early 14c., avantage, "position of being in advance of another," from Old French avantage "advantage, profit, superiority," from avant "before," probably via an unrecorded Late Latin *abantaticum, from Latin abante (see advance).

The -d- is a 16c. intrusion on the analogy of Latin ad- words. Meaning "a favoring circumstance" (the opposite of disadvantage) is from late 15c. Tennis score sense is from 1640s, first recorded in writings of John Milton, of all people. Phrase to take advantage of is first attested late 14c.

Idioms and Phrases with advantage

advantage

see get the advantage of; show to advantage; take advantage of; to advantage.