Aver

//əˈvɜː// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A beast of burden; chiefly a workhorse, but also a working ox or other animal. British, archaic, dialectal
  2. 2
    An old, useless horse; a nag. Northern-England, Scotland, archaic, dialectal

    "[…] Gilbert has but two half-starved cowardly peasants to follow him, and but an auld jaded aver to ride upon, fitter for the plough than for manly service; […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To assert the truth of (something); to affirm (something) with confidence; to declare (something) in a positive manner. ambitransitive

    "A rare thing to ſee a yong man or woman, that liues idlely, and fares well, of what condition ſoeuer, not to bee in loue. Vbicumqꝫ ſecuritas, ibi libido dominatur, luſt & ſecurity domineere together, as Sᵗ Hierome auerreth."

  2. 2
    to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true wordnet
  3. 3
    To justify or prove (an allegation or plea that one has made). ambitransitive
  4. 4
    report or maintain wordnet
  5. 5
    To avouch, prove, or verify the existence or happening of (something), or to offer to do so. obsolete, transitive

    "[…] I return'd with ſimular proofe enough, / To make the Noble Leonatus mad, / By wounding his beleefe in her Renowne, / With tokens thus, and thus: auerring notes / Of Chamber-hanging, Pictures, this her Bracelet / (Oh cunning how I got) nay ſome markes / Of ſecret on her perſon, that he could not / But thinke her bond of Chaſtity quite crack'd, / I hauing tane the forfeyt."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English averren, from Old French averer, from Early Medieval Latin advērō, a verb derived from Latin vērus (“true”). Compare Modern French avérer.

Etymology 2

From Middle English aver, avere (“workhorse; any beast of burden (?); things which are owned, possessions, property, wealth; state of being rich, wealth; ownership, possession”) [and other forms], and then either: * from Old French aver, aveir, avoir (“possession, property; (collectively) beasts of burden; domestic animals; cattle”) (modern French avoir (“asset, possession”)), from aveir, avoir (“to have”), from Latin habēre (“to have, hold; to have, own (possessions)”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-, *ǵʰeh₁bʰ- (“to grab, take”); or * from Old English eafor (“workhorse; tenant’s obligation to transport goods”), further etymology uncertain.

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