avant-
Words nearby avant-
WORDS THAT USE AVANT-
What does avant- mean?
Avant- is a prefix meaning “before” or “forward.” It is very occasionally used in some technical terms.
Avant- comes from French avant, meaning “before.” Avant, in turn, derives from Latin ante, “before,” which is the source of the English combining form ante-.
In most cases, avant- is joined to other words with a hyphen, as in avant-courier.
Examples of avant-
The most common word that features the prefix avant- is avant-garde, “the advance group in any field whose works are characterized by unorthodox and experimental methods.”
The prefix avant- means “before,” while the -garde part of the word comes from French, “guard.” Avant-garde literally means “before guard” or, more clearly, “forward guard.” If this translation sounds familiar, that may be because avant-garde related to the term vanguard.
What are some words that use the prefix avant-?
What are some other forms that avant- may be commonly confused with?
Break it down!
The word courier means “messenger.” With this in mind, who was the avant-courier of the army, historically?