Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To affirm positively; declare.
  • transitive verb Law To assert formally as a fact.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To assert the truth of.
  • To confirm; verify; prove to be true.
  • To affirm with confidence; declare in a positive or peremptory manner.
  • In law, to avouch or verify; offer to verify; allege as a fact.
  • To assert the existence of; offer in evidence.
  • Synonyms Affirm, Declare, etc. (see assert), say, allege, protest, insist, maintain.
  • noun Substance; property; estate.
  • noun plural Live stock; cattle; domestic animals.—
  • noun A beast of burden; a draft-ox or draft-horse; an old horse.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To assert, or prove, the truth of.
  • transitive verb (Law) To avouch or verify; to offer to verify; to prove or justify. See Averment.
  • transitive verb To affirm with confidence; to declare in a positive manner, as in confidence of asserting the truth.
  • noun Obs. or Dial. Eng. A work horse, or working ox.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To assert the truth of, to affirm with confidence; to declare in a positive manner.
  • verb law To prove or justify a plea.
  • verb obsolete To avouch, prove, or verify; to offer to verify.
  • noun obsolete Possessions, property, belongings, wealth.
  • noun dialectal A work-horse, working ox, or other beast of burden.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
  • verb report or maintain

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English averren, from Old French averer, from Vulgar Latin *advērāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin vērus, true; see wērə-o- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French avérer, from Late Latin *advērāre, from ad + vērus ("true").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French aveir (French avoir), substantive use of the verb, from Latin habēre, present active infinitive of habeō ("I have, hold, keep").

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Examples

Comments

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  • This turns up in some old compound forms: aver-silver, averpenny, aver-corn, averland. The O.E.D. quotes sources that associate it with average in this context, but frowns at their 'very doubtful value'.

    January 11, 2009

  • CORONER

    As Coroner, I must aver

    I thoroughly examined her.

    And she's not only merely dead,

    She's really, most sincerely dead.

    June 2, 2010

  • Mmmm, frowning dictionaries.

    June 2, 2010

  • To affirm positively; declare.

    To assert formally as a fact.

    September 12, 2021