abet
[uh-bet]
- to encourage, support, or countenance by aid or approval, usually in wrongdoing: to abet a swindler; to abet a crime.
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Origin of abet
Synonyms
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for abetment
Historical Examples
Now Esther herself was offering her own abetment in almost the same terms.
The PrisonerAlice Brown
Then follows a chapter on abetment, in other words, the instigation of a person to do a wrongful act.
With the aid and abetment of a bottle of excellent Montrachet, however, one contrived to worry through.
Red MasqueradeLouis Joseph Vance
abet
- (tr) to assist or encourage, esp in crime or wrongdoing
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French abeter to lure on, entice, from beter to bait
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for abetment
abet
v.
late 14c. (implied in abetting), from Old French abeter "to bait, to harass with dogs," literally "to cause to bite," from a- "to" (see ad-) + beter "to bait," from a Germanic source, perhaps Low Franconian betan "incite," or Old Norse beita "cause to bite," from Proto-Germanic *baitjan, from PIE root *bheid- "to split" (see fissure). Related: Abetted; abetting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper