avant-garde - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: avant-garde

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

a·vant-garde

Audio Help [uh-vahnt-gahrd, uh-vant-, av-ahnt-, ah-vahnt-; Fr. a-vahn-gard] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the advance group in any field, esp. in the visual, literary, or musical arts, whose works are characterized chiefly by unorthodox and experimental methods.

–adjective

2.	of or pertaining to the experimental treatment of artistic, musical, or literary material.

3.	belonging to the avant-garde: an avant-garde composer.

4.	unorthodox or daring; radical.

[Origin: 1475–85; in sense “vanguard”; < F: lit., fore-guard. See vanguard

]

—Related forms

a·vant-gard·ist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
avant-garde

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

a·vant-garde Audio Help   (ä'vänt-gärd', āv'änt-) Pronunciation Key
n.   A group active in the invention and application of new techniques in a given field, especially in the arts.

adj.   Of, relating to, or being part of an innovative group, especially one in the arts: avant-garde painters; an avant-garde theater piece.

[French, from Old French, vanguard; see vanguard.]

a'vant-gard'ism n., a'vant-gard'ist n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
avant-garde

Fr., lit. "advance guard." Used in Eng. 15c.-18c. in a literal, military sense; borrowed again 1910 as an artistic term for "pioneers or innovators of a particular period."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

avant-garde
adjective
1.	radically new or original; "an avant-garde theater piece"
noun
1.	any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)