avenue
[ av-uh-nyoo, -noo ]
/ ˈæv əˌnyu, -ˌnu /
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.
- a wide, usually tree-lined road, path, driveway, etc., through grounds to a country house or monumental building.
- a suburban, usually tree-lined residential street.
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Nearby words
avenger, avens, aventail, aventine, aventurine, avenue, avenzoar, aver, average, average adjuster, average deviation
Origin of avenue
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for avenue
British Dictionary definitions for avenue
avenue
/ (ˈævɪˌnjuː) /
noun
- a broad street, often lined with trees
- (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
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Word Origin and History for avenue
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.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper