Advantages

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ədˈvɑːn.tɪ.dʒɪz/

Definitions

1. Factors or conditions that contribute positively to a situation or outcome
2. Qualities or traits that lead to better chances and favorable results in various contexts
3. Circumstances or elements that provide a helpful or positive effect ; characteristics that improve the likelihood of success or superiority

Etymology: The core of "advantages" is a spatial idea: Old French "avant" meant "before," and an "avantage" was literally something that put you in front of others. That sense of being ahead of the field is still present in the modern meaning of a helpful edge. The word descends from Late Latin "ab ante," "from before," a phrase that combined "ab" ("from") with "ante" ("before"). It passed into Old French as "avant," and the derived noun "avantage" came to mean a gain or superiority over a rival, which English borrowed in Middle English as "avantage" or "avauntage." The familiar "d" arrived later through a scholarly mistake. Writers assumed the initial "a-" came from Latin "ad," so they inserted a "d" to match, a hypercorrection that gave us "advantage." The word is a plural here, so "advantages" simply names more than one such edge.

Synonyms: benefits, pros, gains

Antonyms: disadvantages, drawbacks