en avant

\ɑ̃.n‿a.vɑ̃\

/\ɑ̃.n‿a.vɑ̃\/ adv

The verdict

“en avant” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Au-delà du lieu où l’on est, devant et à une certaine distance.

Corpus desk

Index FR-en-avant · en avant · French

en avant · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "E" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for en avant
PropertyValue
Headworden avant
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\ɑ̃.n‿a.vɑ̃\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « en avant » en français

en avantsiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

en avant is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \ɑ̃.n‿a.vɑ̃\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for en avant, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is en avant, spelled E-N- -A-V-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Au-delà du lieu où l’on est, devant et à une certaine distance.
  2. 2
    Vers le lieu ou vers le côté qui est devant.
  3. 3
    Du devant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how en avant appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Il était fort loin en avant. — Il se tenait au pied du trône et deux pas en avant.
  2. Pris au dépourvu, je suis projeté violemment en avant; le pommeau de ma selle arabe m'empêche de passer par-dessus la tête de ma monture, mais me donne une contusion à l’épigastre […].

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "en avant"?
"en avant" is spelled E-N- -A-V-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ɑ̃.n‿a.vɑ̃\.
What does "en avant" mean?
As an adverb, "en avant" means: Au-delà du lieu où l’on est, devant et à une certaine distance.
How do you pronounce "en avant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "en avant" is \ɑ̃.n‿a.vɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "en avant" come from?
"en avant" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list