Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
avant la lettre
English translation:
precursor
Added to glossary by
sarahl (X)
Nov 12, 2003 20:06
20 yrs ago
French term
cameron
avant la lettre
Non-PRO
French to English
Art/Literary
french literature
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | precursor |
sarahl (X)
|
| 4 +4 | before its time |
William Stein
|
Proposed translations
+1
5 mins
Selected
precursor
as in écologiste avant la lettre, meaning someone displaying a mindset/trend/whatever before it's well known or before they even have a word for it.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+4
2 mins
William Stein
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Native in English
Costa Rica
Translations that read like originals
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK) 
Works in: French to English, German to English, Spanish to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
1737
before its time
or it was a precursor of
it anticipated...
it anticipated...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jean-Luc Dumont
1 min
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| agree |
Sarah Ponting
9 mins
|
| agree |
jerrie
12 mins
|
| agree |
Enza Longo
14 mins
|
| neutral |
radu_ro
: or "as is" even in English!!! Webster's Collegiate: avant la lettre : before the (specified) concept, word, person, etc. existed [a mid-Victorian matron who was a feminist avant la lettre], Etymology [Fr] (C)1995 Zane Publishing, Inc. (C)1994, 1991, 198
11 hrs
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Yeah, but 1: the asker wants a definition and 2: only a select audience would understand that (the very audience that would be reading a translation in the first place!)
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