abet
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈbɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
Forms: form: abets
form: abetting
form: abetted
form: abetted
Etymology: From Middle English abetten, abette, from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”), either from Middle Dutch bētan (“incite”) or from Old Norse beita (“to cause to bite, bait, incite”), from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną (“to cause to bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”). Cognate with Icelandic beita (“to set dogs on; to feed”).
Alternate etymology traces the Middle English and Old French words through Old English *ābǣtan (“to hound on”), from ā- + bǣtan (“to bait”), from the same source (Proto-Germanic *baitijaną).
See also bait, bet.
Senses: examples: text: aid and abet
text: Those who would exalt themselves by abetting the strength of the Godless, and the wrength of the oppressors.
ref: 1823, John Galt, Ringan Gilhaize or The Covenanters:
text: The Statute provides that whoever has been engaged in aiding, abetting, or assisting, directly or indirectly, is criminal.
ref: 1851, Charles G. Davis, Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the Rescue of a Fugitive Slave, page 39:
text: In the matter of Treason the pig would appear / To have aided, but scarcely abetted: / While the charge of Insolvency fails, it is clear, If you grant the plea ‘never indebted.
ref: 1874–1876 (date written), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Fit the Fit the Sixth.⁠ The Barrister’s Dream.”, in The Hunting of the Snark […], London: Macmillan and Co., published March 1876, →OCLC:
text: The brief, a motion for summary judgment in a case stemming from Fox’s egregiously false claims of Dominion-abetted election fraud, offers a portrait of extravagant cynicism.
ref: 2023 February 17, Michelle Goldberg, “What Fox News Says When You’re Not Listening”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
synonyms: collude
conspire
connive
qualifier: crime
glosses: To incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime.
examples: text: Our duty is urged, and our confidence abetted.
ref: a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, edited by George Rust, The whole works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, published 1835:
text: The elements, however, abetted me in making a path through the deepest snow in the woods, for when I had once gone through the wind blew the oak leaves into my tracks, where they lodged, and by absorbing the rays of the sun melted the snow, and so not only made a dry bed for my feet, but in the night their dark line was my guide.
ref: 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
text: Later some of these artistic friends[…]abetted this ecclesiastical view in so far as they renounced pre-Raphaelism and learned to love the baroque; but that was an aesthetic fashion also, and corrupt,[…]
ref: 1952 May, George Santayana, “I Like to Be a Stranger”, in The Atlantic:
text: By the early Seventies, Playboy was selling seven million copies a month and Hefner's globe-trotting lifestyle was abetted by his private jet, the Big Bunny, that contained a circular bed, an inside disco and a wet bar.
ref: 2017 September 27, David Browne, “Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91”, in Rolling Stone, archived from the original on 28 Sep 2017:
synonyms: approve
patronize
sanction
support
tolerate
glosses: To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid (any good cause, opinion, or action).
synonyms: word: instigate
word: foment
word: encourage
word: support
word: abet
word: actuate
word: goose
word: send
word: sting
word: bring about
word: cheer
word: drive
word: encourage
word: egg on
word: engender
word: evoke
word: excite
word: foment
word: goad
word: grill
word: ignite
word: impel
word: incite
word: induce
word: inflame
word: instigate
word: invoke
word: lash
word: motive
word: motivate
word: move
word: obligate
word: oblige
word: push
word: promote
word: prompt
word: provoke
word: rouse
word: set off
word: spark off
word: spur
word: spur on
word: stimulate
word: stir
word: stir up
word: stoke
word: tempt
word: urge
word: whet
word: whip up
antonyms: word: baffle
word: confound
word: counteract
word: denounce
word: deter
word: abet
word: assist
word: expedite
word: facilitate
word: further
word: help
word: hurdle
word: nurture
glosses: To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
glosses: To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc., to bet.
Derived terms: abetment
abettal
abettance
abettee
abetter
abettor
aid and abet
unabetted