advantage. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

advantage

SYLLABICATION:	ad·van·tage
PRONUNCIATION:	d-vntj
NOUN:	1. A beneficial factor or combination of factors. 2. Benefit or profit; gain: It is to your advantage to invest wisely. 3. A relatively favorable position; superiority of means: A better education gave us the advantage. 4. Sports a. The first point scored in tennis after deuce. b. The resulting score.
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: ad·van·taged, ad·van·tag·ing, ad·van·tag·es To afford profit or gain to; benefit.
IDIOMS:	take advantage of 1. To put to good use; avail oneself of: take advantage of all educational opportunities. 2. To profit selfishly by; exploit: took advantage of the customer. to advantage To good effect; favorably: The roses were displayed to advantage in a blue vase.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English avantage, from Old French, from avant, before, from Latin abante, from before. See advance.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.