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The meaning of AVANT LA LETTRE is before the letter : before the (specified) word or concept existed.
AVANT LA LETTRE definition: before the (specified) concept , word, person, etc. existed | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples.
- English
- Dutch
- French
Etymology
Borrowed from French avant la lettre (literally “before the letter”).
Prepositional phrase
avant la lettre 1. (idiomatic) Before the term was coined (the term being a word or phrase used just previously in an anachronistic way) 1.1. Suffragettes were feminists avant la lettre. 1.1.1. (the word "feminist" did not exist during their era) 1.1. 1952, George Sarton, A History of Science: 1.1.1. Could the Greeks of that time, whose minds were frustrated and demoralized by defeat and misery, be expected to give a welcome to those premature Quakers and to those Tolstoyans “avant la lettre”...
Etymology
From a caption added to an engraving to describe the drawing.
Pronunciation
1. IPA(key): /a.vɑ̃ la lɛtʁ/
Prepositional phrase
avant la lettre 1. (literally, engraving) before lettering, before letters; proof engraving, proof before letters 1.1. Antonyms: après la lettre, avec la lettre 1.2. épreuve, gravure avant la lettre ― print made before the caption is added 1.3. Cette estampe a fait l’objet de cinq tirages avant la lettre. 1.3.1. (please add an English translation of this usage example) 2. (figuratively) avant la lettre (before the term was coined) 2.1. C’était un écologiste avant la lettre. 2.1.1. She was an...
1. [d’alphabet] letter. en lettres majuscules , en lettres capitales in capital letters ⧫ in capitals. en toutes lettres in full. 2. (= courrier) letter. écrire une lettre to write a letter. 3. (autres locutions) à la lettre to the letter. avant la lettre before the term existed ⧫ before the term was coined.
avant la lettre. Before something (a word, phrase, name, or specific entity, especially that which is anachronistic) was coined or created. From the French meaning "before the letter."
avant la lettre translation in French - English Reverso dictionary, see also 'traction avant, train avant, avant Jésus-Christ, bond en avant', examples, definition, conjugation.
Many translated example sentences containing "avant la lettre" – English-French dictionary and search engine for English translations.
