Skip to content

"to advance, move forward" in seven languages

Meaningto advance, move forward

Spanish

avanzar

/abanˈθaɾ/

borrowed · Catalan avançar

French

avancer

/avɑ̃se/

inherited

Italian

avanzare

/avanˈtsare/

inherited

Also 'to be left over': è avanzata della pasta.

Portuguese

avançar

/avɐ̃ˈsah/

borrowed · probably French avancer

Romanian

înainta

/ɨnajnˈta/

other source · înainte 'forward', from Latin IN + AB ANTE

Catalan

avançar

/əbənˈsa/

inherited

English

advance

/ədˈvæns/

from Latin/French · Old French avancer

The d was added later on a mistaken Latin model; advantage got the same treatment.

English → Italianto advance, move forwardavanzareCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*ABANTIĀRE‘to move forward (from AB ANTE 'from in front')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Spoken Latin fused AB ANTE 'from in front' into one word (French avant, Italian avanti) and made a verb of it. English advance and advantage picked up a d that French never had.

English relatives: advantage, vanguard, avant-garde

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esLas tropas avanzaban despacio.
  • frLes troupes avançaient lentement.
  • itLe truppe avanzavano lentamente.
  • ptAs tropas avançavam devagar.
  • roTrupele înaintau încet.
  • caLes tropes avançaven a poc a poc.
  • enThe troops advanced slowly.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words