avert

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English averten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French avertir (“to turn, direct; to make aware”),^[5][6][3][7] and directly borrowed from Latin āvertō (“to turn away or aside”),^[8][2][9] formed from ab- (“away from”) and vertō (“to turn”),^{[5][6][3][10]} from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”).^[6][3] Etymonline traces the French verb through Vulgar Latin *advertiō,^[6] and the OED notes that it represented both Latin verbs, advertō as well, so that the Middle English verb could also mean advert.^[5] In Anglo-Norman, from 1155, it meant to notify, to perceive or to realize.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To turn a thing away: before 1400, in the Coventry Mysteries, a sense now obsolete.^[5] The MED and Barnhart first find the verb, to turn aside or divert, in Lydgate's Fall of Princes, probably before 1439,^[2][12] and Etymonline dates it to the mid-15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it meant to turn something or someone aside, or to turn a person from his faith or purpose.^[2] From the 16th century it was used of turning one's face, eyes or thoughts away (1578),^[5] which Merriam-Webster dates to about 1564,^[4] and of turning away a danger or misfortune before it happens, to ward off (1586).^[5] Etymonline dates the sense "ward off, prevent" to the 1610s.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave both: "to turn aside" and "to put by, as a calamity".^[13] The sense "to alienate, estrange" (1532) and "to view with aversion" (1635–67) have died out.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1400 – to turn a thing away (obsolete).^[5]
• c. 1439 – to turn aside, divert, in Lydgate.^[2][12]
• 1483 – intransitive, to turn away, in Caxton's Golden Legend.^[5]
• 1532 – to turn away in mind; to alienate (obsolete or archaic).^[5]
• 1578 – to turn away the face, eyes or thoughts.^[5] Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1564.^[4]
• 1586 – to ward off something threatened; to prevent.^[5] Etymonline dates it to the 1610s.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn away one's eyes, face or thoughts, especially to avoid something unpleasant: He averted his gaze from the accident.^[4][14][5]
2. To ward off or prevent something threatened: Quick thinking averted a disaster.^[14][4][5]
3. (archaic) To turn a person away from a place or course of action.^[5][8]

Word family

• avertible
• avertedly
• averter

Related words

• averse
• aversion
• advert
• version

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins