Boozer
06-24-05, 09:34AM
advertent • \ad-VER-tunt\ • adjective
: giving attention : heedful
Example sentence:
Marcia listened to everything I said with an advertent expression on her face, then proceeded to tell me, point by point, why she disagreed with me.
Did you know?
You may be thinking that "advertent" should mean "intentional." After all, "inadvertent" means "unintentional." Take away the negative prefix "in-" and you're left with that word's opposite, right? If this is your line of thought, you're not entirely off base; the two words (which both entered English in the 17th century and derive from Latin "advertere," meaning "to turn the mind or attention") are in fact closely linked. But "inadvertent" has another, older meaning: "inattentive" or "not focusing the mind on a matter." The established meaning of "advertent" falls opposite that older sense of "inadvertent." Does this mean that "advertent" never means "intentional"? Not exactly. We have seen some evidence of this use, but it's not yet well enough established to be entered in our dictionaries.
Advertently, I watched as he show me different fishing techniques.
: giving attention : heedful
Example sentence:
Marcia listened to everything I said with an advertent expression on her face, then proceeded to tell me, point by point, why she disagreed with me.
Did you know?
You may be thinking that "advertent" should mean "intentional." After all, "inadvertent" means "unintentional." Take away the negative prefix "in-" and you're left with that word's opposite, right? If this is your line of thought, you're not entirely off base; the two words (which both entered English in the 17th century and derive from Latin "advertere," meaning "to turn the mind or attention") are in fact closely linked. But "inadvertent" has another, older meaning: "inattentive" or "not focusing the mind on a matter." The established meaning of "advertent" falls opposite that older sense of "inadvertent." Does this mean that "advertent" never means "intentional"? Not exactly. We have seen some evidence of this use, but it's not yet well enough established to be entered in our dictionaries.
Advertently, I watched as he show me different fishing techniques.