avoid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈvɔɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English avoiden,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman avoider (“to clear out, withdraw oneself”),^[3][4] a variant of Old French esvuidier “to empty out”,^[3][4][5] from es- (“out”), from Latin ex-, and vuidier “to empty”,^[3][4] from voide “empty”,^[3] the source of void,^[4][5] from Latin vocīvus (“unoccupied, vacant”), from vacāre (“to be empty”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *eue- (“to leave, abandon”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To clear out, withdraw oneself: before 1325, in Cursor Mundi.^[4] The OED's first examples, “to empty, clear, rid”, are from 1382.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word had a wide range of meanings now obsolete: to empty, rid, discharge from the body, send away, banish, destroy, and to depart or abandon.^[3][6] The sense “to make void, annul”, still used in law, is from about 1375.^[6][7] The current sense, “to shun, refrain from, escape”, is from the late 14th century,^[3] and corresponds to Old French éviter, with which avoid was perhaps confused.^[3] Avoidance is from before 1398, in Trevisa.^[4] In Worcestershire and Herefordshire dialect avoid was also an adjective, “empty”: this house is a-void.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to withdraw oneself.^[4]
• c. 1375 – to make void.^[6]
• 1382 – to empty, rid.^[6]
• late 14th century – to shun, evade.^[3]
• before 1398 – avoidance.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To keep away from; to shun.
2. To prevent from happening; to refrain from: avoid mistakes.
3. (law) To make void; to annul.
4. (obsolete) To empty or expel.

Word family

• avoidable
• avoidably
• avoider
• avoidance

Related words

• void
• devoid
• vacant
• vacuum
• evade

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)