Traditionally, an avenue is a straight road or allée with lines of trees running along either side, which is used, as its French source à venir "to arrive" indicates, to emphasize the arrival at a landscape or architectural feature.

The avenue is one of the oldest ideas in the history of gardens, with even earlier ritual uses that sanctified a landscape by laying a plumbline across it. An avenue of sphinxes that lead to the tomb of the pharaoh Hatshepsut (died 1458 BCE); see the entry Sphinx. Avenues defined by guardian stone lions lead to the Ming tombs. British archaeologists have adopted highly specific criteria for "avenues"

In Baroque landscape planning, avenues of trees centered upon the dwelling radiated across the landscape. See the avenues in the gardens of Het Loo.

In modern urban or suburban settings, avenues are names used to differentiate some streets from others, along with "way," "circle," "court," "road", etc. Thus a community may have a "Maple Avenue" and a "Maple Street" without causing much confusion about addresses.

In urban settings, for example, "avenues" may run in a north-south direction, while "streets" run in an east-west direction. Some of the "streets" may be wider and more elaborate than the crossing "avenues."