vanguard

  • noun 1 the foremost part of an advancing army or naval force. 2 a group of people leading the way in new developments or ideas.

  — ORIGIN Old French avantgarde, from avant ‘before’ + garde ‘guard’.

Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary

About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day

Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names