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Verb

You may be familiar with the noun "advert," which is used, especially in British sources, as a shortened form of "advertising." That's one way to use "advert," but it has also been used as a verb in English since the 15th century. There's a hint about the origin of the verb in the idea of "turning" the mind or attention to something; the word derives via Anglo-French from the Latin verb advertere, which in turn comes from Latin vertere, meaning "to turn." "Vertere" is the ancestor of a number of words in English, including "controversy," "divert," "invert," "revert," and even "versatile." In addition, we'd like to turn your attention to one particular ''vertere" descendant: avert, meaning "to avoid." Be careful to avoid mixing this one up with "advert."

Examples of advert in a Sentence

Noun I saw your advert in the newspaper. busily perusing the job adverts in the Sunday Times

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Yet to advert to rules of tonal consistency is to impose an external, puristic point of view on material that is wonderfully motley and personal. — Jesse Green, New York Times, 27 July 2017 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Before the film started there was an advert featuring many Hollywood actors extolling the power of cinema as a shared experience. — Benny Har-even, Forbes, 25 June 2021 Why, when with pent-up wanderlust is likely to fuel passenger numbers, does British Airways need to show an advert at all? — Sarah Turner, Forbes, 6 May 2021 Now its new iOS update has arrived, the iPhone maker is wasting no time promoting its privacy credentials, via a new advert that hits out at data-hungry apps such as Facebook. — Kate O'flaherty, Forbes, 21 May 2021 However, an advert receiving a 44% CTR is now unheard of. — Emilia Kirk, Forbes, 11 May 2021 The advert plays like razor-sharp parody, funnier than any SNL skit, a cynical blend of progressive buzzwords that the creators of South Park would likely compose as a throwaway gag. — Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 4 May 2021 The advert, sponsored by Tanzania's Mining Corporation (STAMICO) was intended to congratulate President Samia Suluhu, 61, on her emergence as the country's 6th president but instead offered condolences to citizens on her death. — Nimi Princewill, CNN, 30 Mar. 2021 In 2017, the company faced a social media outcry over an advert for Dove body wash, which showed a black woman removing her top to reveal a white woman. — NBC News, 9 Mar. 2021 It’s the best advert for visiting my home country and goes a long way to fill the gap left by the ban on travel. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Jan. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'advert.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for advert

Verb

Middle English averten, adverten "to notice, think of, consider, be heedful," borrowed from Anglo-French avertir, advertir "to notify, (reflexive) recognize, be mindful of," going back to Vulgar Latin *advertīre, alteration (by conjugational shift) of Latin advertere "to turn or direct toward, direct (attention) toward, pay heed (to), attract the attention of," from ad- ad- + vertere "to turn" — more at worth entry 4

Noun

by shortening

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