Where does “advantage” come from?
Advantage comes from Middle English avantage, from Old French avantage, combining Old French -age with Latin abante, derived from Latin ab and Latin -icus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -kos and Proto-Indo-European h₂ent-.
advantage (English): Any condition, circumstance, opportunity or...
Definitions
- Any condition, circumstance, opportunity or...
Ancestry of “advantage”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | avantage | — |
| 2 | Old French | avantage | advantage; profit; gain |
| 3 | Old French | avant | beforehand; earlier |
| 4 | Latin | ab ante | in front, before |
| 5 | Latin | ante | before, in front, forwards; before; before,... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | κλίσις | bending, inclination; a lying down; a place for... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -σῐς | "suffix forming nouns" |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | -τις | retained after dentals |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tis | Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots |