avow

English[edit]

From Middle English avowen, from Old French avouer, from Latin advocare (“to call to, call upon, hence to call as a witness, defender, patron, or advocate”), from ad (“to”) + vocare (“to call”). Doublet of advoke, avouch, and advocate. Not related to vow.

avow (third-person singular simple present avows, present participle avowing, simple past and past participle avowed)

(transitive) To declare openly and boldly, as something believed to be right; to own, acknowledge or confess frankly.
- 1858, Henry Stephens Randall, The Life of Thomas Jefferson, volume 1, page 461:
  […] in 1786, and for some period later, there were few, if any, prominent Americans, who avowed themselves in favor of broadly democratic systems.
(transitive) To bind or devote by a vow.
(Can we find and add a quotation of Wyclif to this entry?)
(law) To acknowledge and justify, as an act done. See avowry.
- 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
  avow himself the accomplice of his crimes

Related terms

declare openly

avow

(obsolete) avowal
- 1697, Virgil, “The Twelfth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  without thy Knowledge and Avow