Ad

How to spell ad

2 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce ad

What does ad mean?

1. nounA short notice or message designed to promote a product, service, or event.

Ad in a sentence

• The company placed a full-page ad in the weekend paper.

• A clever radio ad persuaded thousands of listeners to visit the shop.

Where does ad come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word 'ad' is a clipping, that is, a shortened form, of 'advertisement', which entered English in the early modern period from the French 'advertissement' and ultimately from the Latin verb 'advertere', meaning 'to turn toward' (from 'ad', meaning 'to', plus 'vertere', meaning 'to turn'). The original idea was that an advertisement turns the reader's attention toward something, drawing the mind in a particular direction. The full word grew long and formal, so by the late nineteenth century, especially in commercial American usage, speakers began trimming it to the snappy two-letter 'ad', which suited the brisk language of newspapers and selling. The same 'vertere' root surfaces in many familiar relatives, including 'convert', 'reverse', and 'divert'. Because 'ad' is simply the front of the longer word, its spelling holds no surprises once you remember it has nothing to do with 'add', the arithmetic word with a doubled letter.

How the word is built

• clipped short form of 'advertisement' (from Latin advertere: to turn toward)

Words that sound like ad

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• add: To join one thing to another so as to increase a number, amount, or group.