advent
noun
a coming into place, view, or being; arrival.
advent
American
[ad-vent]
/ ˈæd vɛnt /
noun
-
advents
plural
-
a coming into place, view, or being; arrival.
the advent of the holiday season.
- Synonyms:
- start, commencement, beginning, onset
-
Usually Advent the coming of Christ into the world.
-
Advent, the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world.
-
Usually Advent Second Coming.
advent
1
British
/ ˈædvɛnt, -vənt /
noun
Advent
2
British
/ -vənt, ˈædvɛnt /
noun
Advent
Cultural
Usage
What is Advent season? Advent is the season before Christmas. In many branches of Christianity, Advent consists of the period starting four Sundays before Christmas. Among Christians, Advent is typically considered a season of preparation for the celebration of Christmas that also commemorates the coming of Jesus. The word Advent can also refer to the coming of Jesus into the world (it can also refer to what’s known as Jesus’s Second Coming). Religious rituals for Advent include the lighting of candles on an Advent wreath and the decoration of Jesse trees. Although Christmas is widely celebrated in both religious and secular (nonreligious) ways, Advent is primarily a religious observance. However, Advent calendars are a popular way of marking the days until Christmas even for those who do not celebrate it in religious ways. The similar season observed in anticipation of Easter is known as Lent.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of advent
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Latin adventus “arrival, approach,” equivalent to ad- “toward” + ven- (stem of venīre “to come”) + -tus suffix of verbal action; see ad-
Explanation
The advent of something means that it's finally here. You might be waiting for the advent of a new iPhone or for the advent of cloning. Don't hold your breath. Generally, the noun advent is used for the introduction of something important. The twentieth century saw the advent of many important inventions — including television, computers, and microwave dinners. If the word is capitalized, it has a religious meaning, referring to the period, observed in certain Christian religions, that begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas (December 25).
Vocabulary lists containing advent
Joy To The Word: Christmas Terms
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Ides, Eon, Epoch, and Era: Time-related Words
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"The Harlem Renaissance"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
With the advent of AI, that has shifted from 10% to almost 50%, she said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Sociability feels good to us, even as the advent of handheld technologies and other cultural changes have caused us to spend more time remote from one another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Before the advent of yawning, warehouse-sized big-box stores, print catalogs served as portals to the future.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
On one side of the vacuum, there is a Fortnum and Mason musical advent calendar - similar to the one listed in the schedules of the indictment - and a wooden hamper wrapped in plastic.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, loyal still to McClellan, had nodded cynically at the advent of Grant.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
PayPal, Stripe and Advent International declined to comment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Reuters reported earlier this month that Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International had submitted a bid for PayPal, though the company didn’t discuss this in its earnings press release.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Payments company Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International have made a joint takeover bid for PayPal, valued at some $53 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
PayPal and Advent International declined to comment on the reports, while Stripe didn’t respond to a request for comment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
As the day approached, with fewer and fewer windows to open on the Advent calendar, my sisters and I were unruly with excitement, but the grownups seemed too busy to care.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
An Ebola vaccine that uses MVA as a “backbone” also has caused no serious advents in some 50,000 children.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 21, 2024
Sabrina’s twice-a-year advents, like Nailed It’s and Queer Eye’s before it, suggest Netflix is rediscovering the wisdom of broadcast TV’s periodic dole outs.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2019
That’s probably why, along with the advents of Instagram and the gig economy, New Yorkers have taken to the modern breakfasts served at the city’s rapidly multiplying Australian cafes.
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2018
Due primarily to the simultaneous advents of the DIY Maker Movement and the development of affordable 3D printers, costs have come down by orders of magnitude, and functionality has exploded.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 6, 2014
Always so deliberate, hardly surprised by the most outlandish advents.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
