English
advance
Advance comes from Middle English avauncen, from Old French avancier, from Vulgar Latin *abanteāre, from Late Latin ab ante ‘in front, before’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEab ante1‘in front’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*abanteāre1reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400avancier1‘to advance’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500avauncen1‘to advance’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611advance1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English advance
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “The fringed Curtaines of thine eyes aduance.”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEab anteWiktionary, English advance‘in front’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*abanteāreWiktionary, English advancereconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400avancierWiktionary, English advance‘to advance’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500avauncenWiktionary, English advance‘to advance’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611advanceWiktionary, English advance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “The fringed Curtaines of thine eyes aduance.”
A compound of ab ‘from, away from, out of’ + ante ‘of space. in front, before, forwards’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep
Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ‘off, away’
Proto-Italic *ap ‘from, off, away’
Latin ab ‘from, away from, out of’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- ‘face’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts ‘forehead’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti ‘opposite’
Proto-Italic *anti ‘before’
Latin ante ‘of space. in front, before, forwards’
Every English word from Latin ab ante
Today it means
verb To help the progress of (something); to further.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “advance”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin ab ante / advance