Advance

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ədˈvɑːns/

Definitions

1. A forward movement in position, progress, or development, or money paid before it is due
2. To move forward in space or time, or to propose an idea for consideration
3. To promote someone to a higher rank or position, or to make something happen earlier than planned

Etymology: The word's oddest feature is the letter "d" in the middle, which has no business being there. The original English form was "avauncen", borrowed in the Middle Ages from Anglo-Norman "avauncier", and the "d" was added later on the model of Latin "ad-", as in words like "advent" and "adverse", where it has no etymological basis. The earlier spelling shows how the word was actually built. Beneath that spelling lies a phrase meaning "from before." It descends from Latin "ab ante", which combined "ab" ("from") with "ante" ("before"). Latin speakers used it to mean something like "from the front," and this was reshaped in Vulgar Latin into a verb, "*abanteāre", meaning to bring something forward. Old French turned that into "avancier", and English inherited it from there, so the word's core idea is literally "to put oneself from the before position," which is a move toward the front.

Synonyms: progress, proceed, move forward, promote, develop

Antonyms: retreat, recede, halt, stop, regress