advertisement

Etymology

From Middle French advertissement (“statement calling attention”), compare French avertissement (“warning”). See advertise. Equivalent to advertise + -ment.

noun

1. (marketing) A commercial solicitation designed to sell some commodity, service or similar.
   Companies try to sell their products using advertisements in form of placards, television spots and print publications.
2. A public notice.
   The city council placed an advertisement in the local newspaper to inform its residents of the forthcoming roadworks.
3. A recommendation of a particular product, service or person.
   The good manners and intelligence of the students are an advertisement for the school.
4. (obsolete) Notoriety.
5. (card games) In gin rummy, the discarding of a card of one's preferred suit so as to mislead the opponent into thinking you do not want it.
   The safest time to answer a possible advertisement is when you have no indication as to what suit your opponent wants. Then even if he has advertised, the odds are that your answer is not the card he is looking for. 1947, On Gin Rummy: An All-American Roundup, page 121