avenue

Etymology

Borrowed from French avenue, from Old French avenue, feminine past participle of avenir (“approach”), from Latin adveniō, advenīre (“come to”), from ad (“to”) + veniō, venīre (“come”).

noun

1. A broad street, especially one bordered by trees or, in cities laid out in a grid pattern, one that is on a particular side of the city or that runs in a particular direction.
   Finding an address east to west is fairly simple . The numbering begins at Central Avenue and moves logically and predictably either west through the avenues or east through the streets, so you know that 2400 East Camelback is at Twenty-Fourth Street or 4300 West Indian School is at Forty-Third Avenue . 2009, Carrie Frasure, Arizona Off the Beaten Path®: A Guide to Unique Places, page 111
   Boulevards typically (but not exclusively) go east to west; avenues usually run north to south. 2011, Time Out Los Angeles, page 78
   The City of New York implemented a unified street grid in Queens: Numbered avenues run east–west; numbered streets run north–south. 2014, Adrienne Onofri, Walking Queens
2. A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may be reached; a way of approach or of exit.
3. The principal walk or approach to a house which is withdrawn from the road, especially, such approach bordered on each side by trees; any broad passageway thus bordered.
   They said nothing further, but tramped on in the growing darkness, past farm steadings, into the little village, through the silent churchyard where generations of the Pallisers lay, and up the beech avenue that led to Northrop Hall. 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict
4. A method or means by which something may be accomplished.
   There are several avenues by which we can approach this problem.
   As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot. 1796, George Washington, "Farewell Address", American Daily Advertiser
   Alexis Sanchez hit the crossbar for Barcelona early on and Pedro hit the post in the dying seconds - while Cole cleared off the line from Cesc Fabregas. Goalkeeper Petr Cech also saved well from Messi and Carles Puyol as Pep Guardiola's team tried every avenue in an attempt to break Chelsea down. 18 April 2012, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona”, in BBC Sport
   One avenue being explored is the Esk Valley line's community rail designation status, to see if standards more appropriate to a main line railway can be challenged with a view to facilitating low-cost operation of a rural branch. 2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival”, in Modern Railways, page 78