avenue

[av-uh-nyoo, -noo]

See more synonyms for avenue on Thesaurus.com

noun

a wide street or main thoroughfare.
a means of access or attainment: avenues of escape; avenues to greater power.
a way or means of entering into or approaching a place: the various avenues to India.

Chiefly British.
1. a wide, usually tree-lined road, path, driveway, etc., through grounds to a country house or monumental building.
2. a suburban, usually tree-lined residential street.

Origin of avenue

1590–1600; < French, literally, approach, noun use of feminine past participle of avenir < Latin advenīre to come to. See a-⁵, venue

Synonyms for avenue

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1. See street.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for avenue

entrance, boulevard, thoroughfare, route, promenade, channel, road, outlet, pathway, drive, alley, passage, access, course, exit, way, entry, approach, parkway

Examples from the Web for avenue

Contemporary Examples of avenue

And the bells chimed for victory at 1211 Avenue of the Americas.
Why I’m for the War on Christmas
Asawin Suebsaeng
December 23, 2014
The marchers began to stream out of the park, where they walked West on 110th and then hung a right on 7th Avenue.
Justice League Vigil for Slain NYPD Officers Asks Whose Life Matters
Olivia Nuzzi
December 22, 2014
Metamorphosis is running at Lincoln Center, 63rd Street and 9th Avenue, until January 11, 2015.
How the Circus Got a Social Conscience
Justin Jones
November 7, 2014
I witnessed that tragedy a few blocks from where it occurred, standing motionless at 8th Street and 6th Avenue in lower Manhattan.
13 Years After 9/11, Anti-Muslim Bigotry Is Worse Than Ever
Dean Obeidallah
September 11, 2014
James Ferguson, 29, a design student and paralegal, who lives on 89th and 1st Avenue, is among them.
Why the Upper East Side Is Now Cooler Than Brooklyn
Tom Teodorczuk
September 2, 2014

Historical Examples of avenue

I cannot decide which way to turn to reach Fifth Avenue again.
Ester Ried Yet Speaking
Isabella Alden
Quite suddenly Sidney knew who the girl at 213 —— Avenue was.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Three months before, the Avenue would have meant nothing to Sidney.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
On her first night on duty, a girl had been brought in from the Avenue.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Ask your future husband if he knows a girl at 213 —— Avenue.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for avenue

avenue

noun

1. a broad street, often lined with trees
2. (capital as part of a street name)a road, esp in a built-up areaShaftesbury Avenue
a main approach road, as to a country house
a way bordered by two rows of treesan avenue of oaks
a line of approachexplore every avenue

Word Origin for avenue

C17: from French, from avenir to come to, from Latin advenīre, from venīre to come

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 avenue

c.1600, "a way of approach" (originally a military word), from Middle French avenue "way of access," from Old French avenue "act of approaching, arrival," noun use of fem. of avenu, past participle of avenir "to come to, arrive," from Latin advenire "to come to," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + venire "to come" (see venue). Meaning shifted to "a way of approach to a country-house," usually bordered by trees, hence, "a broad, tree-lined roadway" (1650s), then to "wide, main street" (by 1846, especially in U.S.).