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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

apace en · ADV

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • /əˈpeɪs/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English apās (“step by step, slowly; quickly, rapidly; at once, promptly”), from Old French à pas (“at a quick pace”).

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Quickly, rapidly, with speed.
    • On the three major railway systems of Ireland, changeover to diesel traction has continued apace during the past year. 1958 May 14, “Diesel Railcars for Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 351:
    • (To one, it is ten years of years. ... Yet now, and in this place, Surely she leaned o'er me—her hair Fell all about my face. ... Nothing: the autumn fall of leaves. The whole year sets apace.) 1850, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Blessed Damozel, The Germ; reprinted in Poems [Collection of British and American Authors; 1380], copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1873, OCLC 933409239, page 2, lines 19–24
    • Gallop apace, you fiery footed ſteedes, / Towards Phœbus lodging, ſuch a Wagoner / As Phaeton would whip you to the weſt, / And bring in Cloudie night immediately. c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 65:
    • The process which, if not checked, will abolish Man, goes on apace among Communists and Democrats no less than among Fascists. […] Once we killed bad men: now we liquidate unsocial elements. 1943, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, “The Abolition of Man”, in The Abolition of Man […], New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published 1947, →OCLC, page 46:
    • Twilight was coming on apace and a star or two was already out, but the remains of the sunset could still be seen in the west. 1954, C. S. Lewis, chapter 1, in The Horse and His Boy, Collins, published 1998:
    • Ow faire Hippolita, our nuptiall houre / Drawes on apace: foure happy daies bring in / Another Moon[…] c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 145:
    • Construction of the new offices is proceeding apace.
    • Despite efforts to prevent it, officials say, the radicalisation of young Muslims living in Europe proceeds apace. 2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer:

Deriveds

ill news spreads apace · keep apace · mort wap-apace

Synonyms

expeditiously · swiftly

Translations (17)

fr rapidement (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · pt rapidamente (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · fi rapsakasti (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · az tezbazar (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · yue 飛快 /飞快 (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · cs rychlým tempem (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · pt ligeiro (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · ru быстро (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · pl szybko (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · yue 急速 (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · fr aller bon train (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · ru ско́ро (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · fi ripeästi (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · cs rychle (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · fi rivakasti (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · de rasch (quickly, rapidly, with speed) · ru спе́шно (quickly, rapidly, with speed)