vanguard
(ˈvængɑːd)
Also Sc. 5 vandgard, 6 vandgarde, -gaird; 6 wangard(e, -guard, -gaird, vangart, -gard(e, -gaird.
[ad. OF. avangarde, var. of avantgarde: see vantguard. Cf. It. and Sp. vanguardia, Pg. vanguarda.]
1. a. Mil. The foremost division of an army; the forefront or van.
The Scottish examples are placed first.
| (a) 1487 Barbour's Bruce xi. 164 Till renownyt erllis twa..He gaf the vandgard in ledyng. 1513 Douglas æneid xii. v. 210 Alsus..ruschis abak for feir..In the vangart [ed. 1553 vandgarde] throw mony a poyntit glave. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 224 This gude schir Loth the wangard led that da. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 270 The wandgaird was neir mearchant togither. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 313 He..obteynet the name and honour of Capitane of the kingis Vangaird. |
| (b) 1503 Lett. Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 208 The Souchyvars whiche [were] appoyncted to kepe my vanguarde avaunced tha[ym for]wardes without my knowlege. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres iii. ii. 63 Let the Officer of the Vanguarde draw out three rankes of the armed pikes. 1622 F. Markham Bk. War iv. viii. 151 As soone as the head or Vanguard beginneth, that in the same time the Reare bee ready to follow. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Wars 389 Villars, the Commander of the Van-Guard.., being circumvented, and taken by Fontains Army. 1693 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 5 The landgraves vanguard pursued their rear. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Every Army is compos'd of three Parts, a Van-guard, Rear-guard, and Main Body. 1780 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) V. 3423 Van Guard. See Advanced Guard. 1838 Lytton Leila iv. i, Winding along the steeps of the mountain were seen the gleaming spears and pennants of the Moslem vanguard. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. i. Castle of Vautsberg, As when the vanguard of the Roman legions First saw it from the top of yonder hill! 1875 Clery Min. Tact. vi. (1877) 76 The advanced party, which may be conveniently termed the Vanguard, is composed of cavalry and infantry. |
b. In
fig. use.
Cf. avant-garde 2.
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii, At length..Germany and Weissnichtwo were where they should be, in the vanguard of the world. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. 116 Palestine..was then the vanguard of the eastern, and therefore, of the civilised world. 1878 Maclear Celts i. 12 They were to form the vanguard in the Missionary history of Europe. |
| attrib. 1888 Century XXXVI. 657 All day his vanguard spirit, flaming bright, Bore up the brunt of unavailing fight. 1958 Times 9 Sept. 5/1 But it was not the pretentious nonsense that so often passes for ‘vanguard’ culture. 1977 Guardian Weekly 16 Oct. 19/3 One prominent vanguard dealer in London..had only sold one single work so far this year. 1980 Listener 13 Nov. 648/3 Today, vanguard art seems to have lost its ‘political’ role. |
c. In
Communism, the elite party cadre which, according to Lenin, would be used to organize the masses as a revolutionary force and to give effect to communist planning.
| 1928 E. & C. Paul tr. Stalin's Leninism I. 95 As far back as 1902, foreseeing the special role of our Party, he [sc. Lenin] thought it necessary to point out that: Only a party guided by an advanced theory can act as vanguard in the fight. 1941 tr. Lenin's One Step Forward 85 The stronger our Party organizations..the richer..will be the influence of the Party on the elements of the working class masses..guided by it. After all, the Party, as the vanguard of the working class, must not be confused with the entire class. 1952 P. Selznick Organizational Weapon 10 Only the vanguard is exposed to a full statement of communist aims and methods. 1973 C. D. Kernig Marxism, Communism & Western Soc. VIII. 270/1 The vanguard proves itself both in and after the victorious proletarian revolution by taking over the leadership in all spheres of life. |
d. (With capital initial.) The name of a political party in Northern Ireland, representing a secession from Ulster Unionism. Freq.
attrib.| 1972 Times 14 Feb. 2/4 A crowd of 1,500 attended a rally called by Mr William Craig, MP for Larne, who has founded what he calls the Vanguard Movement. Ibid. 13 Mar. 1/4 When it began three months ago, Vanguard was described by one Government minister as a ‘comic opera’. 1973 Times 31 Mar. 1/2 Mr William Craig{ddd}chose the steps of Stormont to announce the formation of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party. 1975 Butler & Sloman Brit. Political Facts (ed. 4) xvi. 354 On June 28, 1973 the..Assembly was elected; its composition was 22 Ulster Unionist..15 Loyalist Coalition (7 Vanguard..8 Democratic Unionist), [etc.]. 1982 M. Wallace Brit. Govt. in Northern Ireland vii. 133 The Vanguard Unionists had decided in November 1977 to return to the official Unionist Party, while remaining a ‘movement’. |
2. ellipt. The name of a variety of peach.
| 1786 Abercrombie Arr. 14 in Gard. Assist., Peaches... Vanguard. 1802 W. Forsyth Fruit Trees 28 To the fore-going may be added,..Smooth-leaved Royal George, Steward's late Gallande, Vanguard. 1860 Hogg Fruit Man. 147 Vanguard.—This is a variety of the Noblesse... The only apparent difference is in the habit of the trees, which in Vanguard is much more robust and hardy than in the Noblesse. |
Hence
ˈvanguardism, the quality of being in the vanguard of a political, cultural, or artistic movement (
cf. avant-gardism);
ˈvanguardist, a person in the vanguard of a political, cultural, or artistic movement; also
attrib. or as adj.; (
cf. avant-gardiste)).
| 1934 Webster, Vanguardist. 1952 P. Selznick Organizational Weapon ii. 91 (heading) Vanguardism in semicolonial areas. 1964 Spectator 15 May 664/1 It is not true that this complex personality comes out of the same box as Rauschenberg. That vanguardist exclaims, ‘Hell, what a marvellous universe.’ 1971 New Yorker 16 Oct. 148/2 The integration of art and non-art is the essence of twentieth-century vanguardism in art. 1976 Ibid. 12 Jan. 22/1 Just being there must make the average armchair nihilist want to argue with his fellow-man over the merits of anarcho-syndicalism, vanguardism, and radical conformism. 1976 Spare Rib Nov. 21/1 After wading through some vanguardist rhetoric, and an informal discussion..things became even more complicated. 1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Apr. 465 (heading) From vanguardism to fascism. |