Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb Hence; away.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Forward.
  • Away! begone! depart! an exclamation of contempt or abhorrence.
  • noun Dismissal.
  • To advance.
  • noun A boast; a vaunt.
  • To praise highly; vaunt; make renowned.
  • To boast; brag; speak or express vauntingly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • interjection Begone; depart; -- a word of contempt or abhorrence, equivalent to the phrase “Get thee gone.”
  • verb obsolete To vaunt; to boast.
  • verb obsolete To advance; to move forward; to elevate.
  • verb obsolete To depart; to move away.
  • noun obsolete A vaunt; to boast.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection archaic Begone; depart; a word of contempt or abhorrence, equivalent to the phrase "Get thee gone."
  • noun obsolete A vaunt; a boast.
  • verb obsolete To advance; to move forward; to elevate.
  • verb obsolete To depart; to move away.
  • verb archaic To vaunt; to boast.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, forward, from Old French avant, from Latin abante : ab-, from; see ab– + ante, before; see ante–.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1275–1325; Middle English, from Old French avant ("to the front").

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Examples

  • Oh! I do remember that you performed upon the latter, and my modesty should have certainly bid me 'avaunt' from it.

    The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 of 2) 1907

  • Oh! I do remember that you performed upon the latter, and my modesty should have certainly bid me 'avaunt' from it.

    The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Kenyon, Frederic G 1898

  • But suddenly she closed the book, and gave it back to Philip, shaking her head with a backward movement, as if to say "avaunt" to floating visions.

    The Mill on the Floss George Eliot 1849

  • "avaunt" rose to her lips again as she saw one of the figures in chain-armour cautiously approaching her with the polite words, "Can't I be of any use, Miss Delaware?"

    A Christmas Cake in Four Quarters Mary Anne 1871

  • Avaunt this cave! avaunt the burnt-offerings, which the godless Cyclops offers on Aetna's altars, exulting in meals on strangers 'flesh!

    The Cyclops 2008

  • Avaunt this cave! avaunt the burnt-offerings, which the godless Cyclops offers on Aetna's altars, exulting in meals on strangers 'flesh!

    The Cyclops 2008

  • Their necromantic forms in vain Haunt us on the tented plain; We bid these spectre shapes avaunt, Ashtaroth and Termagaunt.

    The Talisman 2008

  • The parson of the parish, who was one of the executors, and had acted as ghostly director to the old man, no sooner heard this exclamation than he cried out, “Avaunt, unchristian reviler! avaunt! wilt thou not allow the soul of his honour to rest in peace?”

    The Adventures of Roderick Random 2004

  • He knew that he was as one under temptation, but he was not strong enough to bid the tempter avaunt.

    He Knew He Was Right 2004

  • And thanne alle his frendes maken hire avaunt and hire dalyance, how the fowles comen thider, here 5, here 6, here 10, and there 20, and so forthe: and thei rejoyssen hem hugely for to speke there of.

    The Voyages and Travels of Sir John Mandeville 2004

Comments

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  • Avaunt, you cullions! (Henry V: Act 3, scene ii)

    January 14, 2007

  • An ancient hunting cry.

    June 11, 2012