ETYM Cf. French avance, from avancer. Related to Advance.
1. An amount paid before it is earned; SYN. cash advance.
2. Increase in price or value; SYN. rise.
3. A movement forward
4. A change for the better; progress in development
5. A tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
6. The act of moving forward (as toward a goal)

ETYM Latin assiduitas: cf. French assiduite. Related to Assiduous.
1. The quality or state of being assiduous; diligence.
2. Persistent personal attention — usually used in plural.
3. Great diligence; SYN. assiduousness, concentration.
4. Persevering application to a pursuit.
5. Unremitting care.

ETYM Latin attentio: cf. French attention.
1. A general interest that leads people to want to know more.
2. The process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others; SYN. attending.
3. The faculty or power of mental concentration.
4. A motionless erect stance with arms at the sides and feet together; assumed by military personnel during drill or review.
5. A courteous act indicating affection.

ETYM Old Fren. court, curt, cort, French cour, Late Lat. cortis, from Latin cohors, cors, chors, gen. cohortis, cortis, chortis, an inclosure, court, thing inclosed, crowd, throng.
1. A yard wholly or partly surrounded by walls or buildings; SYN. courtyard.
2. A specially marked area within which a game is played.
3. Respectful deference; SYN. homage.
4. The family and retinue of a sovereign or prince.
5. The residence of a sovereign or nobleman.
6. The sovereign and his advisers who are the governing power of a state.

A man's courting of a woman; seeking the affections of a woman (usually with the hope of marriage); SYN. wooing, courting, suit.
Behavior exhibited by animals as a prelude to mating. The behavior patterns vary considerably from one species to another, but are often ritualized forms of behavior not obviously related to courtship or mating (for example, courtship feeding in birds).
Courtship ensures that copulation occurs with a member of the opposite sex of the right species. It also synchronizes the partners' readiness to mate and allows each partner to assess the suitability of the other.

A strike in which the workers walk out suddenly, abandonning their work stations.