abet
Meanings
Plural: abets
Verb
- assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing
- To incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime.
- To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid (any good cause, opinion, or action).
- To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
- To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc., to bet.
Noun
- Fraud or cunning.
- An act of abetting; of helping; of giving aid.
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
abet, actuate, approve, bring about, cheer, collude, connive, conspire, drive, egg on, encourage, engender, evoke, excite, foment, goad, grill, ignite, impel, incite, induce, inflame, instigate, invoke, lash, motivate, motive, move, obligate, oblige, patronize, promote, prompt, provoke, push, rouse, sanction, send, set off, spark off, spur, spur on, stimulate, sting, stir, stir up, stoke, support, tempt, tolerate, urge, whet, whip up
Antonyms
abet, assist, baffle, confound, counteract, denounce, deter, expedite, facilitate, further, help, hurdle, nurture
Scrabble Score: 6
abet is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordabet is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
abet is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary