Aver Meaning
/əˈvɜː/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo assert the truth of (something); to affirm (something) with confidence; to declare (something) in a positive manner.
verbTo justify or prove (an allegation or plea that one has made).
Sentence Examples
I here aver that his chronology is correct.
We can aver firmly that our countries will remain allies.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The witness will ____ under oath that he saw the defendant at the scene.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I must ____ that the new plan is much better than the previous one.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English averren, from Old French averer, from Early Medieval Latin advērō, a verb derived from Latin vērus (“true”). Compare Modern French avérer.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A rare thing to ſee a yong man or woman, that liues idlely, and fares well, of what condition ſoeuer, not to bee in loue. Vbicumqꝫ ſecuritas, ibi libido dominatur, luſt & ſecurity domineere together, as Sᵗ Hierome auerreth."
— 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Causes of Heroicall Loue, Temperature, Full Diet, Idlenesse, Place, Climat, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 2, member 2, subsection 1, page 209:
"Now as to the Scriptures being the Word of God, and evidently known to be ſo, or evidencing themſelves to be ſo, and that of right, and properly they are to be ſo called; all which thou J. O. very abſolutely averreſt, […]"
— 1660, Samuel Fisher, “[Rusticus ad Academicos in Exercitationibus Expostulatoriis, Apologeticis Quatuor. The Rustick’s Alarm to the Rabbies: Or, The Country Correcting the University and Clergy, and (Not without Good Cause) Contesting for the Truth, against the Nursing Mothers and Their Children. In Four Apologetical and Expostulatory Exercitations; …] The Third Apologetical, and Expostulatory Exercitation”, in The Testimony of Truth Exalted, […], [London?]: [s.n.], published 1679, →OCLC, chapter I, page 411:
"Chiron, the four-legg'd Bard, had both / A Beard and Tail of his own growth; / And yet by Authors 'tis averr'd, / He made use onely of his Beard."
— 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 31:
"[T]he partial Infidel […] averreth the Sleep or Inſenſibility of the Soul both in good and bad perſons, from the time of their Deceaſe hence until their Reſurrection; […]"
— 1701, Lawrence Smith, “[First Discourse on 2 Timothy 1:10]”, in The Evidence of Things Not Seen: Or, The Immortality of the Human Soul, and the Separate Condition thereof in the Other World, Asserted and Made Manifest: […], London: […] Thomas Speed, […], →OCLC, page 1:
"The Devil, I safely can aver, / Has neither hoof, nor tail, nor sting; / Nor is he, as some sages swear, / A spirit, neither here nor there, / In nothing—yet in everything."
— 1819, Miching Mallecho [pseudonym; Percy Bysshe Shelley], “Peter Bell the Third”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], new edition, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1840, →OCLC, part the second (The Devil), stanza 1, page 239:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The witness will ____ under oath that he saw the defendant at the scene.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I must ____ that the new plan is much better than the previous one.