Confession: the etymology of this word actually came up in discussion normally in my family last week. #NerdAlert

My dad wondered if maybe advice is related to avis, which is French for “opinion”, though it can also be used to mean “advice”. I thought he must be wrong, based on the more direct translation of advice being a totally different word (conseil, which I literally just realized is close to counsel… hmmm).

A quick search on the Google machine proved my dad right!

Advice
comes from the Old French word for “opinion, view, judgement, idea”: avis,
which comes from the phrase ço m’est à vis, meaning “it seems to me”,
which comes from Vulgar Latin’s mi est visum, meaning “in my view”.

Ultimately, advice is rooted in the Latin word for the verb “to see”, videre, which makes sense since the meaning of advice is rooted in someone’s particular viewpoint or perspective on a situation.

Personally, my advice is eat yummy food, watch Star Wars on repeat, and come back next week for more Word Nerd Wednesday wonderfulness (which is surprisingly a real word)! As always, don’t forget to comment below or on Instagram with words you would like to see in upcoming weeks!

Reference

Online Etymology Dictionary: Advice
etymonline.com/search?q=advice