avow
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L15877 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /əˈvaʊ/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English avowen, from Old French avouer, from Latin advocare (“to call to, call upon, hence to call as a witness, defender, patron, or advocate”), from ad (“to”) + vocare (“to call”). Doublet of advoke, avouch, and advocate. Not related to vow.
- avowal
“without thy Knowledge and Avow”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English avowen, from Old French avouer, from Latin advocare (“to call to, call upon, hence to call as a witness, defender, patron, or advocate”), from ad (“to”) + vocare (“to call”). Doublet of advoke, avouch, and advocate. Not related to vow.
- To declare openly and boldly, as something believed to be right; to own, acknowledge or confess frankly.
“[…] in 1786, and for some period later, there were few, if any, prominent Americans, who avowed themselves in favor of broadly democratic systems.”
- To bind or devote by a vow.
“No man may halewe and avowe the firste gendrid thingis that perteynen to the Lord, whether it is oxe, whether scheep, tho ben the Lordis part.”
- To acknowledge and justify, as an act done. See avowry.
“avow himself the accomplice of his crimes”