Vanguard comes from Anglo-French avantgarde, from avant, meaning "before," and garde, "guard." In medieval times, avantgarde referred to the troops that marched at the head of the army. In time, vanguard marched its way as a word for the group of people who are the leaders of an action or movement in society, politics, art, etc.
a style of jazz that the vanguard quickly recognized as new and exciting talk radio is often regarded as being in the vanguard of the conservative movement
Recent Examples on the WebRunning with the Devil, at one point, suggests that John’s vocation was so obvious in hindsight, because the man who once stood at the vanguard of antivirus software and security was, himself, the virus. Andy Meek, BGR, 24 Aug. 2022 Katia, a geochemist, and Maurice, a geologist, were at the vanguard of volcanology, which was then in its infancy. Katherine Cusumano, Outside Online, 15 July 2022 The San Francisco Dykes on Bikes Motorcycle Contingent will be the vanguard of the Pride Parade. Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 June 2022 The twin nanosatellites—each about the size of a shoebox—were the vanguard of a planned fleet of six cyclone monitoring spacecraft to measure temperature, moisture, and other parameters inside hurricanes and tropical storms, Spaceflight Now reports. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 24 June 2022 The base is also a nerve center in a growing Russian military buildup that the United States and allies fear could be the vanguard of an invasion of Ukraine meant to block its Western ties and aspirations of future NATO membership.Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2022 Rune Labs is in the vanguard of neurological research and therapy development for Parkinson’s disease. Marcus Crowder, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 June 2022 Rosenbluth was in the vanguard of a player pipeline from New York to North Carolina orchestrated by McGuire.New York Times, 20 June 2022 Alibaba is in the vanguard of designing, building, and operating e-commerce infrastructure, while keeping business costs down. Dan Ikenson, Forbes, 13 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English vauntgard, borrowed from Anglo-French vantgarde, avantgarde, from avant- "fore-" (from avant "before," going back to Late Latin abante) + gardeguard entry 1 — more at advance entry 1