avoid English · revision 2814

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325, Cursor Mundi|origins=la vacō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈvɔɪd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|avoiden]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|xno|avoider|t=to clear out, withdraw oneself]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a variant of Old French esvuidier “to empty out”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|fro|es-|t=out]], from Latin ex-, and vuidier “to empty”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from voide “empty”,^(Etymonline) the source of [[void]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|vocīvus|t=unoccupied, vacant]], from [[m|la|vacāre|t=to be empty]],^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*euə-|alt=*eue-|t=to leave, abandon]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To clear out, withdraw oneself: before 1325, in ''Cursor Mundi''.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED's first examples, “to empty, clear, rid”, are from 1382.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The sense “to make void, annul”, still used in law, is from about 1375.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The current sense, “to shun, refrain from, escape”, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and corresponds to Old French éviter, with which avoid was perhaps confused.^(Etymonline) ''Avoidance'' is from before 1398, in Trevisa.^(Barnhart 1988) In Worcestershire and Herefordshire dialect ''avoid'' was also an adjective, “empty”: ''this house is a-void''.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – to withdraw oneself.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1375 – to make void.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1382 – to empty, rid.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – to shun, evade.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1398 – ''avoidance''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To keep away from; to [[shun]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To prevent from happening; to refrain from: ''avoid mistakes''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(law)'' To make [[void]]; to [[annul]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To empty or expel.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[avoidable]]

+ * [[avoidably]]

+ * [[avoider]]

+ * [[avoidance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[void]]

+ * [[devoid]]

+ * [[vacant]]

+ * [[vacuum]]

+ * [[evade]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}