# avant
## English
### Etymology

Abbreviated from avant-garde.

### Noun

avant (plural avants)
* (obsolete) The front of an army; the vanguard.

#### Related terms

* van

### See also

* avant-corps
* avant-disco
* avant-funk

### References

* “avant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “avant”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volumes I (A–C), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin ab ante (“before, in front of”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [əˈβan]
* IPA: (Balearic) [əˈvant]
* IPA: (Valencia) [aˈvant]

### Adverb

avant
* forward, ahead, onward
    Synonym: endavant
    Antonym: endarrere

#### Derived terms

* avant-
* avantatge
* davant

#### Related terms

* abans

### Further reading

* “avant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “avant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “avant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “avant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Franco-Provençal
### Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin ab ante.

### Adverb

avant (ORB, broad)
* before

### Preposition

avant (ORB, broad)
* before, ahead of

#### Derived terms

* avantâjo

#### Related terms

* avanciér

### References

* avant in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
* avant in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French avant, from Old French avant (“before, prior in time, forward”), from Late Latin ab ante (“before, in front of”), from Latin ab (“from”) + ante (“before”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /a.vɑ̃/
* Audio:(file)
* Audio (Canada):(file)
* Homophones: avants, avent, Avent

### Adverb

avant
* beforehand; earlier
    Je l’avais fait avant. ― I had done it beforehand.

### Preposition

avant
* before (in time)
    Antonym: après
    Elle est arrivé un jour avant moi. ― She arrived one day before me.
    Il faut se laver avant de manger. ― You must wash before eating.
    Tais-toi avant que je ne te tue. ― Shut up before I kill you.
* before (in space), in front of, ahead of
    Antonym: après

#### Derived terms

* aller de l’avant
* auparavant
* avant la lettre
* avant longtemps
* avant l’heure
* avant peu
* avant que
* avant que de
* avant tout
* avant-bras
* avant-centre
* avant-coureur
* avant-dernier
* avant-garde
* avant-goût
* avant-guerre
* avant-hier
* avant-poste
* avant-propos
* avant-veille
* avantage
* bond en avant
* d’abord et avant tout
* d’avant
* en avant
* gaillard d’avant
* salto avant

#### Related terms

* avancer

#### Descendants

* Haitian Creole: anvan

### Noun

avant m (plural avants)
* front
    l’avant d’une voiture ― The front of a car.
* (sports) forward

### Further reading

* “avant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* vanta

## Norman
### Etymology

From Old French avant, from Late Latin ab ante (“before, in front of”), from Latin ab (“from”) + ante (“before”).

### Adverb

avant
* (Jersey) beforehand; earlier

### Preposition

avant
* (Jersey) before
** 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎, page 533:Six s'maïnes avant Noué, et six s'maïnes après, les nits sont les pûs longues, et le jours les pûs freds.Six weeks before Christmas and six weeks after, the nights are the longest and the days the coldest.

#### Derived terms

* avant-hièr (“day before yesterday”)

### Noun

avant m (plural avants)
* (Jersey, nautical) bow

#### Derived terms

* gaillard d'avant (“forecastle”)
* mât d'avant (“foremast”)
* vaile d'avant (“foresail”)

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* avaunt

### Etymology

From Late Latin ab ante (“before, in front of”), from Latin ab (“from”) + ante (“before”).

### Adverb

avant
* beforehand; earlier

### Preposition

avant
* before

#### Related terms

* avancier

#### Descendants

* French: avant
* Norman: avant
* → Middle English: avaunt

## Romansch
### Alternative forms

* avon (Sursilvan)
* avànt (Sutsilvan)
* aunz, avaunt (Puter)

### Etymology

From Late Latin ab ante, from Latin ab + ante.

### Preposition

avant
* (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Vallader) before, beforehand
* (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Vallader) ago