1. To make public announcement of, especially to proclaim the qualities or advantages of (a product or business) so as to increase sales. See synonyms at announce.
2. To make known; call attention to: advertised my intention to resign.
3. To warn or notify: "This event advertises me that there is such a fact as death" (Henry David Thoreau).

1. To call the attention of the public to a product or business.
2. To inquire or seek in a public notice, as in a newspaper: advertise for an apartment.

[Middle English advertisen, to notify, from Old French advertir, advertiss-, to notice. See advert¹.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.