Advertise

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈædvə(ɹ)taɪz/

Definitions

1. To make known to the public, especially to promote products or services for sale
2. To announce or present information publicly in order to attract attention or customers
3. To communicate a product, service, or event to the public with the intention of encouraging interest or sales

Etymology: Long before it meant selling soap on television, "advertise" meant simply to warn someone. It came into Middle English from Anglo-Norman "advertir" and Middle French "advertir" or "avertir," both meaning to inform or give notice, and the earliest English sense kept that flavour: to make someone aware of something, often a danger or a fact they needed to know. The shift toward commerce came gradually. Notices of goods and services were a natural extension of telling people things they ought to know, and the word slid from informing in general to announcing a product or event in particular. Over the centuries the noun "advertisement" grew alongside it, and the verb's sense of promotion became its dominant meaning. The spelling with its "-ise" ending reflects French influence, and the word is probably also shaped by the noun "advertisement," which helps explain how a verb meaning "to warn" ended up as the everyday word for selling.

Synonyms: promote, publicize, announce, market

Antonyms: suppress, conceal