DictionaryRoot: ad-
Latin

ad-

to, toward; addition; sometimes emphasis

Forms

  • ad-
  • ac- — Used before c in Latin.
  • af- — Used before f in Latin.
  • ag- — Used before g in Latin.
  • al- — Used before l in Latin.
  • ap- — Used before p in Latin.
  • ar- — Used before r in Latin.
  • as- — Used before s in Latin.
  • at- — Used before t in Latin.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *ad, ‘to; near.’

Note

Later Latin-based spellings sometimes restored consonants that had disappeared in French.

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noun

advent

AD-vent/ˈædvent/

The arrival or beginning of something important.

The electric lamp represents the advent of a new lighting technology.

Electric light marks arrival of a new technology.
Etymology

The pieces express “coming to,” hence an arrival. The religious use for Christ’s coming broadened into the arrival or beginning of anything important.

In context

CrashCourse0:08
Well, first because it saw the advent of the greatest invention in human history: Television.
Civil Rights and the 1950s: Crash Course US History #39

More examples

  • The advent of spring brings color back to the garden.
  • Her career began before the advent of digital photography.
  • The museum traces the advent of passenger air travel.

Forms

advent · advents

Similar words

arrival
More general; can concern an ordinary person or delivery.
onset
Often marks the start of something unwelcome or gradual.