abet

Meanings

Verb

• To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
• 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 maintain.
• 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.

Related

Similar words

• incite, instigate, set on, egg on, foment, advocate, countenance, encourage, second, uphold, aid, assist, support, sustain, back, connive at, promote, sanction, advocate, embolden, favor, cooperate with

Opposite words

• baffle
• confound
• contradict
• counteract
• denounce
• deter
• disapprove
• disconcert
• discourage
• dissuade
• expose
• frustrate
• hinder
• impede
• obstruct
• thwart

Origin

• From Middle English abetten, abette, from Old French abeter ("to entice"), from a- + beter, either from Middle Dutch betan ("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, from the same Proto-Germanic source.
• See also bait, bet.