avouch
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make frank acknowledgment or affirmation of; declare or assert with positiveness.
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to assume responsibility for; vouch for; guarantee.
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to admit; confess.
verb
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to vouch for; guarantee
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to acknowledge
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to assert
Other Word Forms
- avoucher noun
- avouchment noun
- unavouched adjective
Etymology
Origin of avouch
1350–1400; Middle English avouchen < Middle French avouchier < Latin advocāre. See a- 5, vouch, advocate
Explanation
When you avouch, you assert that something is true. An accused man might be acquitted if several eyewitnesses avouch that he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. Avouch is an extremely old-fashioned way to say another (only slightly old-fashioned) word, avow. Use either word to mean "assert" or "declare." While it's unusual to hear people use avouch, it's common to say something like, "I'll vouch for my friend," meaning you'll give evidence or make a guarantee on your friend's behalf. The root of avouch is the Latin advocare, "call to as a witness."
Vocabulary lists containing avouch
"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 3
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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Measure for Measure
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Before my God, I might not this believe, without the sensible and true avouch of mine own eyes.
From Textbooks • Mar. 27, 2020
How do avouch and avow differ from aver in construction?
From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin
The parochial resolutioners, amounting in all to ten, were, I can honestly avouch, scarce at all missed in a congregation of nearly as many hundreds.
From My Schools and Schoolmasters or The Story of my Education. by Miller, Hugh
I cannot avouch for that, your Majesty, but he is highly commended by his master, an honest soldier, who places him at your Majesty's service.
From Valeria The Martyr of the Catacombs by Withrow, William Henry
Grist said, And, scratching his head, Seemed pondering between good and evil,— "I could swear and avouch 'Twas the Prior of Roche,— If thou hadst not said 'twas the Devil!"
From The Baron's Yule Feast: A Christmas Rhyme by Cooper, Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
