aver

American  

[uh-vur] / əˈvɜr /

verb (used with object)

• avers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• averred,
  past participle,  past
• averring
  present participle

1. to assert or affirm with confidence; declare in a positive or peremptory manner.

2. Law. to allege as a fact.

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aver British  

/ əˈvɜː /

verb

1. to state positively; assert

2. law to allege as a fact or prove to be true

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Synonym Usage

See maintain.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• averment
  noun
• misaver
  verb (used with object)
• preaver
  verb (used with object)
• unaverred
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• averring
  present
• averred
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• aver
  simple
• avers
  simple
• have averred
  perfect
• has averred
  perfect
• am averring
  progressive
• are averring
  progressive
• is averring
  progressive
• have been averring
  perfect progressive
• has been averring
  perfect progressive

Past

• averred
  simple
• had averred
  perfect
• was averring
  progressive
• were averring
  progressive
• had been averring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will aver
  simple
• will have averred
  perfect
• will be averring
  progressive
• will have been averring
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of aver

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French averer < Medieval Latin advērāre, equivalent to ad- ad- + -vēr- (< Latin vērus true) + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive suffix

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Explanation

To aver is to state something or declare something is true. This verb has a serious tone, so you might aver something on a witness stand or you might aver that you won't back down to a challenge. The verb aver comes to English via the Latin root words ad, meaning "to," and verus, meaning "true." The word can have the sense of formally declaring something is true, but it can also mean to report positively: "The grandmother averred that her granddaughter would make a fine veterinarian because of her love and caring for animals."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aver avers averred averring

This “is unacceptable. Without gas service, a simple but essential home-cooked meal becomes much more difficult,” they aver.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

But many practitioners of Ayurveda or other traditional Indian medicine aver that the churning process used to prepare lassi breaks down the glial proteins in the dairy, making it even easier to digest.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2022

More important, they aver that inequality causes stress without admitting the possibility that some other factor is contributing to both, or indeed that social breakdown contributes to inequality.

From Economist ● Jun. 14, 2018

The speakers were divided into six groups which aver aged about 176 words each, or more than 1,000 words a day.

From Washington Times ● May 17, 2017

I am sensible that I believed one Way once but I aver that our College’s Defeat is due to an imperfect Understanding of this Question.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Stephen Carter, author and Yale law professor, avers that “Democracy demands dialogue and dialogue flows from disagreement.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

In 1981, he avers, there were no school shooters, no one was on meds, no one was a snowflake, security at LAX was lax and there was still a Tower Records on Ventura Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2023

At every turn, there’s a caress waiting, even if it’s a gambit for affection: “I got a lot on my mind, and I gotta share the pain,” Saint Levant avers.

From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2022

Indeed, the great ecologist E. O. Wilson avers that to be effective in some scientific fields, it's actually best not to be too bright.

From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2022

Dr. Brinton, too,** avers that "the Great Spirit is a post-Christian conception."

From Myth, Ritual And Religion, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Andrew Lang

Massaro said Trump's stake at the course "ultimately rests in a trust in the US, and as they have averred, the president is the beneficiary".

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

A blockade, he averred, was merely a necessary step to put down an internal insurrection.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 30, 2024

A pregnant woman, the attorney general averred, may be refused a treatment if it “has the potential to harm unborn lives—an issue not implicated” when treating nonpregnant women.

From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2024

Besides, CRS averred, it could chase some people away from applying for benefits they are entitled to.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 14, 2023

I averred that the fortifications there were not in a complete state of readiness, but we could imagine no other strategy.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

What did that even mean?—something akin to the counsel averring that “there is no sky.”

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2017

I’ve heard from more than one reader over the years averring that an orchestra’s role is simply to play the music of Beethoven, Brahms and their ilk: Forget contemporary stuff, much less diversity.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 13, 2016

U. S. delegates protested against theft of exclusive news, scoops and beats, averring that the newspaper which discovers news first should have the sole right, for the day at least, to print the news.

From Time Magazine Archive

In Washington elder Statesman Bernard Baruch, adviser on reconversion, prepared to break his peace, averring only in advance that the Government agencies which had wound the machine up should preside at its unwinding.

From Time Magazine Archive

S. T. Coleridge wrote to Charles Lamb averring that the book must be his work.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6 "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus" by Various

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