avowal

[ uh-vou-uh l ]

/ əˈvaʊ əl /

an open statement of affirmation; frank acknowledgment or admission.

QUIZZES

Can You Ace This Quiz About “Compliment” vs. “Complement”?

Take this quiz to see if you really know the difference between “compliment” and “complement"!

Question 1 of 11

“Compliment” and “complement” had a shared meaning a long time ago, but today they are no longer interchangeable.

First recorded in 1720–30; avow + -al²

pre·a·vow·al, nounre·a·vow·al, noun

"Yes, Tim," I confessed frankly, and not at all sorry to make the avowal.
The Devil's Own|Randall Parrish
Nothing could prove her case so conclusively as his avowal that the letter was in his hands.
Pietro Ghisleri|F. (Francis) Marion Crawford
He weighed near twenty stone, according to his own avowal—an Elephant-Cupid!
Calamities and Quarrels of Authors|Isaac Disraeli
I was making Sigismund acquainted with my father's wishes, when he met my confidence by the avowal which I have just related.
The Headsman|James Fenimore Cooper

She made the avowal in a tone very like that in which, to Beatrice French, she had affirmed the contrary.
In the Year of Jubilee|George Gissing