different between avenue vs thoroughfare

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French avenue, from Old French avenue, feminine past participle of avenir (“approach”), from Latin adveni?, adven?re (“come to”), from ad (“to”) + veni?, ven?re (“come”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?æv.??nju?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?æv.??n(j)u/
• Hyphenation: av?e?nue

Noun

avenue (plural avenues)

1. A broad street, especially one bordered by trees.
2. 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.
3. The principal walk or approach to a house which is withdrawn from the road, especially, such approach bordered on each side by trees; any broad passageway thus bordered.
4. A method or means by which something may be accomplished.
5. (urban toponymy) A street, especially, in cities laid out in a grid pattern, one that is in a particular side of the city or that runs in a particular direction.

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.

When abbreviated in an address (such as "Malcolm Ave" or "Fisher Av.") a capital "A" is normally used and a full stop (period) only used if "e" is not the last letter of the abbreviation.

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-Élysées. This distinction is not observed in US English, where names such as “Fifth Avenue” are common. In British English, 'Avenue' is usually more associated with a tree-lined street and is sometimes named after the species of tree e.g. Acacia Avenue.

Synonyms

• (broad street): drive, boulevard
• (broad street): av., av, ave., ave (abbreviation)

Translations

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from French avenue, from Old French avenue, feminine past participle of avenir (“approach”), from Latin adveni?, adven?re (“come to”), from ad (“to”) + veni?, ven?re (“come”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /av?ny/, [æv??ny]

Noun

avenue c (singular definite avenuen, plural indefinite avenuer)

1. avenue

Inflection

References

• “avenue” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From Old French avenue, feminine past participle of avenir (“approach”), from Latin adveni?, adven?re (“come to”), from ad (“to”) + veni?, ven?re (“come”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /av.ny/

Noun

avenue f (plural avenues)

1. avenue (broad street, especially bordered with trees)
2. (specifically) a radial avenue (an avenue radiating from a central point, especially bordered with trees)
3. (dated) avenue (principal walk or approach to a house or other building)
4. (figuratively) avenue (means by which something may be accomplished)

Derived terms

• (abbreviation): av., av, ave., ave

Adjective

avenue

1. feminine singular of avenu

Further reading

• “avenue” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Alternative forms

• thorofare
• throughfare
• thoroughfair (obsolete)
• thorowfair (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English thurghfare, corresponding to thorough- (“through”) +? fare. Compare Old English þurhfaran (“to go through, go over, traverse, pierce, pass through, pass beyond, transcend, penetrate”). Compare also Old English þurhfær (“inner secret place”), German Durchfahrt (“passage through, thoroughfare”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?????f??/

Noun

thoroughfare (plural thoroughfares)

1. (now rare except in certain set phrases) A passage; a way through.
2. A road open at both ends or connecting one area with another; a highway or main street.
   • 2011, Stephen Phelan, The Guardian, 1 Jul 2011:

     Local art is now a viable industry, and hundreds of islanders make a living in it. The thoroughfare of Oneroa village is lined with shops and galleries full of their work.

3. (obsolete) The act of going through; passage; travel, transit.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book X:

     and made one realm, / Hell and this world, one realm, one continent / Of easy thorough-fare.
4. An unobstructed waterway allowing passage for ships.

Translations