You may be familiar with the noun advert, which is used, especially in British sources, as a shortened form of advertisement. That's one way to use advert, but it has also been used as a verb in English since the 15th century. There's a hint about the origin of the verb in the idea of "turning" the mind or attention to something; the word derives via Anglo-French from the Latin verb advertere, which in turn comes from Latin vertere, meaning "to turn." Vertere is the ancestor of a number of words in English, including controversy, divert, invert, revert, and even versatile. In addition, we'd like to turn your attention to one particular vertere descendant: avert, meaning "to avoid." Be careful to avoid mixing this one up with advert.
Noun I saw your advert in the newspaper. busily perusing the job adverts in the Sunday Times
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Yet to advert to rules of tonal consistency is to impose an external, puristic point of view on material that is wonderfully motley and personal. Jesse Green, New York Times, 27 July 2017
Noun
Get in some sessions, and pitch something for an advert. Orlando Higginbottom, Billboard, 14 Sep. 2022 Getting back on topic though, the advert for the new burgers actually has some decent production value behind it. Ollie Barder, Forbes, 16 June 2022 Yawn started out as a boat washer in south Florida after answering an advert in the local paper. Julia Zaltzman, Robb Report, 12 July 2022 Announcing his return in typically cheeky style – after a Twitter campaign to free Cuthbert – Aldi made the announcement outside a branch of M&S this morning, parking a truck with an advert outside a store. Mark Faithfull, Forbes, 1 June 2022 That same year, Indian jewelry brand Tanishq withdrew an advert featuring an interfaith couple following online criticism.CNN, 27 Apr. 2022 So, when that game-changing advert came on in 2012, on primetime television after X Factor no less, featuring some of the best Grime MCs from the ends, something stirred in me. L'oréal Blackett, refinery29.com, 25 Feb. 2022 In the advert, the animal lover spends a fun day in New York with her best friend - a giant chicken! Lanae Brody, PEOPLE.com, 15 Feb. 2022 Worn underneath a pair of low-slung, slashed baggy jeans, the cut-out leotard was an advert for casually smoking rebound dressing done well. Alice Newbold, Vogue, 11 Jan. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English averten, adverten "to notice, think of, consider, be heedful," borrowed from Anglo-French avertir, advertir "to notify, (reflexive) recognize, be mindful of," going back to Vulgar Latin *advertīre, alteration (by conjugational shift) of Latin advertere "to turn or direct toward, direct (attention) toward, pay heed (to), attract the attention of," from ad-ad- + vertere "to turn" — more at worth entry 4