An Avenue Was the Approach to a House
An avenue is a broad street, often tree-lined. The word came from the approach road to a country house, and its French sense is arrival.
An avenue is a wide street, typically lined with trees. The French verb behind it, *avenir*, means to come to: an avenue was the tree-lined approach by which you arrived at a great house. Only later did it name city streets, and Manhattan famously runs avenues north to south and streets east to west.
- A broad street. *Fifth Avenue.*
- A tree-lined approach. *An avenue of limes.*
- A route or means. *Explore every avenue.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | avenue | A wide avenue. |
| Plural | avenues | New avenues. |
| Abbreviation | Ave. | Madison Ave. |
| Related | boulevard | A leafy boulevard. |
| Related | street | A narrow street. |
How it is used in a sentence
- They planted an avenue of oaks.The original sense.
- We should explore other avenues.Figurative: other approaches.
- In Manhattan, avenues run north to south.Streets run the other way.
Kinds of road
- Avenue — broad, often tree-lined
- Boulevard — wide, from the Dutch word for a rampart
- Crescent — curved, usually residential
- Close — a cul-de-sac
- Mews — a lane behind houses, once stables
From French *avenue*, an approach, from *avenir*, to come to, from Latin *advenire* — the same root as *adventure* and *advent*.
Where does *explore every avenue* come from?
From the idea of an avenue as a route of approach. Every possible way in is worth trying.
Avenue or boulevard?
Both are wide roads. Boulevard comes from the word for a rampart, since many were built on demolished city walls.