Avant la lettre

The phrase avant la lettre ( French for in front of the letter ) originally describes the state of a printing plate before the lettering takes place, i.e. after the plate has been approved by the artist.

In a figurative sense it means: A structure is referred to with a term that did not even exist at the time this structure was created. In relation to people and their services, it can be translated as “ahead of their time”. For example:

" Suffragettes were feminists avant la lettre ."
"The Simplicissimus makes also the patron and supporter of a German short story avant la lettre when in 1897 a contest for the best short story entirely (poignant novella organized) 'to the extent of printing gaps."

In this usage, the expression is part of the upscale literary educational language.

Individual evidence

↑ Alexander Waldow (ed.): Illustrated Encyclopedia of the graphic arts and the related branches . Leipzig 1884, p. 31.
^ Helmut de Boor , Richard Newald: History of German literature from the beginnings to the present. Part 1; Volume 9, CH Beck, Munich 1955, p. 137.

[1] Alexander Waldow (ed.): Illustrated Encyclopedia of the graphic arts and the related branches . Leipzig 1884, p. 31.

[2] Helmut de Boor , Richard Newald: History of German literature from the beginnings to the present. Part 1; Volume 9, CH Beck, Munich 1955, p. 137.