The front of an army; the vanguard.
"The general ordered his elite troops to march at avant, leading the charge against the enemy lines."
"The avant at the party quickly formed their own secret club to discuss future plans without anyone else knowing."
A surname.
"The painter Jean Avant was known for his bold use of color."
The word avant is a shortened form of the French phrase avant-garde, which originally referred to troops positioned ahead of the main army during battle. In English, it was adopted in the 19th century to describe artists and thinkers who are radically new or experimental before they become mainstream.