Avenue
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈæv.əˌnju/
- US IPA: /ˈæv.əˌnu/
Origin
Borrowing from fr avenue, from Old French avenue, feminine past participle of avenir ("approach"), from Latin adveniÅ, advenÄ«re ("come to"), from ad ("to") + veniÅ, venÄ«re ("come").
Full definition of avenue
Noun
avenue
(plural avenues)- A broad street, especially one bordered by trees (Avenue_(landscape)).
- A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may be reached; a way of approach or of exit.
- The principal walk or approach to a house which is withdrawn from the road, especially, such approach bordered on each side by trees; any broad passageway thus bordered.
- 1907, w, The Dust of Conflict Chapter 1, They said nothing further, but tramped on in the growing darkness, past farm steadings, into the little village, through the silent churchyard where generations of the Pallisers lay, and up the beech avenue that led to Northrop Hall.
- A method or means by which something may be accomplished.There are several avenues by which we can approach this problem.
- 2012, 18 April, Phil McNulty, Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona, Alexis Sanchez hit the crossbar for Barcelona early on and Pedro hit the post in the dying seconds - while Cole cleared off the line from Cesc Fabregas. Goalkeeper Petr Cech also saved well from Messi and Carles Puyol as Pep Guardiola's team tried every avenue in an attempt to break Chelsea down.
Usage notes
Sometimes used interchangeably with other terms such as street. When distinguished, an avenue is generally broad and tree-lined. Further, in many American cities laid out on a grid, notably Manhattan, streets run east-west, while avenues run north-south.
In French traditionally used for routes between two places within a city, named for the destination (or formally where it is coming from), as in the archetypal Avenue des Champs-Elysées. This distinction is not observed in English, where names such as “Fifth Avenue†are common.