allege
[uh-lej]
- to assert without proof.
- to declare with positiveness; affirm; assert: to allege a fact.
- to declare before a court or elsewhere, as if under oath.
- to plead in support of; offer as a reason or excuse.
- Archaic. to cite or quote in confirmation.
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Origin of allege
1275–1325; Middle English alleg(g)en, probably < Old French aleguer (< Medieval Latin, Latin allēgāre to adduce in support of a plea; see allegation), conflated with Anglo-French, Old French aleg(i)er to justify, free, literally, to lighten (< Late Latin alleviāre; see alleviate); homonymous Middle English v. alleg(g)en, with literal sense of Old French aleg(i)er, replaced by allay in 16th cent.
Synonyms
See more synonyms for allege on Thesaurus.com2. state, asseverate, aver. 3. attest.
Synonym study
1. See maintain.
Antonyms
2. deny.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for alleges
Contemporary Examples
He alleges that a third boy, aged 10 or 11, was deliberately hit by a car and killed by a member of the pedophile network in 1979.
When she came to, she alleges that she woke up in his bed and Cosby had his shirt off.
Bill Cosby’s Long List of Accusers (So Far): 18 Alleged Sexual Assault Victims Between 1965-2004Marlow Stern
November 24, 2014
As a final indignity, Green alleges that he dropped two $100 bills on her end table and left.
She alleges that he and twenty-or-so named colleagues collectively abused “alcohol, cocaine, mushrooms, Special-K, heroin.”
Rather, she alleges that Madaleno has made it a point of heated contention throughout the campaign.
Historical Examples
"You have confessed to the truth of what she alleges," said my father.
Ranald Bannerman's BoyhoodGeorge MacDonald
He died unmarried, though Lady Cowper alleges “he has eight Wives.”
LavengroGeorge Borrow
Morabin says that there is no proof of this, and alleges that Brutus did it for stage effect.
The Life of CiceroAnthony Trollope
Even Mr. Cunningham alleges this to be the case, but I cannot at all agree with him.
At Home with the PatagoniansGeorge Chaworth Musters
Pagi also alleges that Virgil was the fifth Bishop of Salzburg.
Insula Sanctorum et DoctorumJohn Healy
allege
- to declare in or as if in a court of law; state without or before proofhe alleged malpractice
- to put forward (an argument or plea) for or against an accusation, claim, etc
- archaic to cite or quote, as to confirm
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Word Origin
C14 aleggen, ultimately from Latin allēgāre to dispatch on a mission, from lēx law
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 alleges
allege
v.
c.1300. It has the form of one French verb and the meaning of another. The form is Anglo-French aleger, Old French eslegier "to clear at law," from Latin ex- "out of" (see ex-) and litigare "bring suit" (see litigate); however eslegier meant "acquit, clear of charges in a lawsuit." It somehow acquired the meaning of French alléguer, from Latin allegare "send for, bring forth, name, produce in evidence," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + legare "to depute, send" (see legate). Related: Alleged; alleging.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper