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

avenue

AV-uh-noo/ˈævənuː/

A broad route leading toward a place.

Tall trees line the broad avenue leading toward the old palace.

Broad tree-lined city avenue.
Etymology

The pieces express “coming to”: an avenue was originally a way of approach. A tree-bordered approach to a country house supplied the image that broadened into a wide city street.

In context

VideoVoyage.TV1:16
the avenue is lined with cinemas, cafés and restaurants, and luxury specialty shops.
Champs-Élysées, the Most Beautiful Avenue in the World

More examples

  • The shop stands on a busy downtown avenue.
  • We explored every avenue for resolving the dispute.
  • Further research may open new avenues of treatment.

Forms

avenue · avenues

Similar words

boulevard
Usually suggests a broad urban street, often with landscaped divisions.
approach
Can describe a method without suggesting a broad physical route.