avenue

[ av-uh-nyoo, -noo ]

noun

1. a wide street or main thoroughfare.
2. a means of access or attainment:

   avenues of escape; avenues to greater power.

3. a way or means of entering into or approaching a place:

   the various avenues to India.

4. 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.

avenue

/ ˈævɪˌnjuː /

noun

1. 1. a broad street, often lined with trees
   2. capital as part of a street name a road, esp in a built-up area

      Shaftesbury Avenue

2. a main approach road, as to a country house
3. a way bordered by two rows of trees

   an avenue of oaks

4. a line of approach

   explore every avenue

Word History and Origins

Origin of avenue¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from French, literally, “approach,” noun use of feminine past participle of avenir, from Latin advenīre “to come to.” See a- ⁵, venue

Word History and Origins

Origin of avenue¹

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

Synonym Study

See street.

Example Sentences

You hurry out of the neighborhood, across the avenue that divides one section of town from another, relieved when you reach home.

From MIT Technology Review

There are other avenues in biotechnology beyond gene editing that may help reduce the cattle industry’s footprint.

From Singularity Hub 

So mathematicians hoped that Bateman and Katz’s breakthrough might offer an avenue into proving the Erdős conjecture, especially when combined with other recent advances.

From Quanta Magazine

The Coronado City Council could decide this month whether to pursue a legal challenge, and the best avenue to do so.

From Voice of San Diego

Economists have long pointed to home-ownership as a major avenue for building family wealth.

From Freakonomics

The police learned that Kemp worked in a grocery on Decatur Avenue.

From The Daily Beast

They were looping back around and coming down Tiebout Avenue when they spotted two figures.

From The Daily Beast

He then escaped from his detention and arrived on Tverskaya Avenue to join his supporters.

From The Daily Beast

In the mid-afternoon, Ramos and Liu were parked on Tomkins Avenue on a meal break.

From The Daily Beast

And the bells chimed for victory at 1211 Avenue of the Americas.

From The Daily Beast

He left the arabyieh at the western entrance and went on foot down the avenue of headless rams.

From Project Gutenberg

Aristide was young, he loved flirtation, and flirtation flourished in the Avenue des Plantanes.

From Project Gutenberg

The stout brigadier grunted an assent and rolled monumentally down the Avenue.

From Project Gutenberg

He walked briskly down the avenue, and Hedges stood looking after him, slightly puzzled in his mind.

From Project Gutenberg

They joined in bands of youths and maidens and whirled down the Avenue in Bacchic madness.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• boulevard
• channel
• entrance
• outlet
• pathway
• promenade
• road
• route
• thoroughfare