Advantageous

How to spell advantageous

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce advantageous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does advantageous mean?

1. adjectiveProviding a benefit or a favourable position; helpful to one's interests.

Advantageous in a sentence

• The lower interest rate made refinancing the mortgage highly advantageous.

• Signing the contract early proved advantageous for both companies.

Where does advantageous come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back through Old French to the noun 'avantage', meaning a position out in front or the upper hand, which was built on 'avant', 'in front of' or 'before', itself from the Late Latin 'abante', a fusion of 'ab' (from) and 'ante' (before). English borrowed the noun 'advantage' in the 1300s, and the adjective 'advantageous', meaning offering a benefit or a favourable position, followed in the 1500s, modelled on the French 'avantageux'. The intrusive 'd' that we now spell was added later by writers who wrongly assumed a link to Latin 'ad-' (to), so the letter is essentially a learned mistake that stuck. The trickiest part for spelling is the soft 'g' kept before the 'e': the '-geous' cluster preserves the soft sound the 'g' had in the French parent, which is why we write 'ageous' rather than 'agous'. Knowing the word grows from 'advantage' plus '-ous' makes that ending far easier to recall.

How the word is built

• advant- (from Old French avant: in front, before)
• -age (noun suffix)
• -ous (adjective suffix: full of)