1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Avenue

AVENUE (the past participle feminine of Fr. avenir, to come to), a way of approach; more particularly, the chief entrance-road to a country house, with rows of trees on each side; the trees themselves are said to form the avenue. In modern times the word has been much used as a name for streets in towns, whether with or without trees, such as Fifth Avenue in New York, or Shaftesbury Avenue in London.