definitions

allege

[ uh-lej ]
/ əˈlɛdʒ /
||

verb (used with object), al·leged, al·leg·ing.

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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RELATED WORDS

depose, plead, testify, cite, charge, maintain, recount, declare, recite, advance, avow, offer, avouch, affirm, adduce, state, lay, aver, profess, present

Nearby words

allargando, allative, allay, allecret, allegation, allege, alleged, allegedly, allegheny, allegheny barberry, allegheny mountains

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 FOR allege

2 state, asseverate, aver.
3 attest.

ANTONYMS FOR allege

2 deny.

Related forms

Can be confused

accuse allege charge

Synonym study

1. See maintain.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for alleges

British Dictionary definitions for alleges

allege

/ (əˈlɛdʒ) /

verb (tr; may take a clause as object)

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

Word Origin for allege

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012