abet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈbɛt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English abetten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French abeter (“to bait, to harass with dogs”),^[2][5][3] from a- “to” (from Latin ad-) and beter “to bait”.^[2][5][4] The French verb is of Germanic origin,^[5][4][3] probably Frankish bētan (“to incite”) or Old Norse beita (“to cause to bite”),^[5][3] so that the literal sense was “to cause to bite”.^[5] It is related to bait and bite.^[3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To urge on or stir up a person to do something (about 1380).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

From the hunting picture of setting dogs on to bite, the verb came to mean urging someone on in general.^[5][7] By 1590 it had taken a bad sense, inciting or encouraging someone to commit a crime,^[3][7] and from 1779 it was used of encouraging or countenancing the offence itself.^[7][5] The good sense of supporting a cause is now obsolete,^[7] and the word survives mostly in the legal phrase aid and abet.^[6]

Timeline

• about 1315 – noun abet, fraud or cunning, now obsolete.^[7]
• about 1380 – verb, to urge on or incite.^[7][3][5]
• 1590 – to instigate or encourage a person in a crime.^[7][3]
• 1596 – to support a cause or opinion, now obsolete.^[7]
• 1779 – to encourage or countenance an offence.^[7][5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To encourage or assist someone, especially in wrongdoing.
2. To support or promote an activity or plan.

Word family

• abetment
• abettor

Usage notes

Random House gives help, aid, assist and promote as synonyms, and hinder and discourage as antonyms.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press