ahead

English

Etymology

a- +‎ head

(nautical) Beyond the head (of a ship). This may have drifted into more general English usage where it is used to describe something as being 'in front of'.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əˈhɛd/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛd
Hyphenation: ahead

Adverb

ahead (not comparable)

In or to the front; in advance; onward.
The island was directly ahead.
In the direction one is facing or moving.
Just ahead you can see the cliffs.
In or for the future.
There may be tough times ahead.
You've got to think ahead so as not to be unprepared.
At an earlier time.
He paid his rent ahead.
Having progressed more.
In all of his classes Jack was ahead.

Antonyms

(nautical) astern
behind

Hyponyms

straight ahead

Derived terms

ahead-of-time
go-ahead

Related terms

ahead of

Translations

in or to the front

Bulgarian: отпред (bg) (otpred), напред (bg) (napred)
Catalan: en front de, al davant de
Dutch: voor ons, vooruit (nl), voorop (nl)
Finnish: edellä (fi), edessä (fi)
French: devant (fr)
Italian: avanti (it)
Japanese: 先に (さきに, saki ni)
Mirandese: alantre

Navajo: alą́ąjįʼ
Portuguese: à frente (pt) (in the front), para frente (to the front)
Romanian: înainte (ro), în fața
Russian: вперёд (ru) (vperjód) (where to), впереди́ (ru) (vperedí) (where to)
Spanish: enfrente de (es)
Ukrainian: впере́д (vperéd), попе́реду (popéredu)
Zazaki: raver
ǃXóõ: ǂhàã

in the direction one is facing or moving

Finnish: edessä (fi)

Mirandese: alantre

in or for the future

Finnish: edessä (fi); ennalta (fi)

at an earlier time

Finnish: etuajassa

having progressed more

Finnish: edellä (fi)

Anagrams

aahed