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Origin and history of avowed

avowed(adj.)

"declared, open," mid-14c., past-participle adjective from avow. Related: Avowedly.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to avowed

avow(v.)

c. 1300, "uphold, support, approve; stand by, back up (someone); declare openly, take sides openly, affirm;" mid-14c. "admit openly," from Anglo-French avouer, Old French avoer "acknowledge, accept, recognize," especially as a protector (12c., Modern French avouer), from Latin advocare "to call, summon, invite" (see advocate (n.)). A synonym of avouch (q.v.), which tends to contain the more technical, legal aspect of the word. Related: Avowed; avowing.

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    Trends of avowed

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    lax
    The laxists, though they formed no avowed school, were nonetheless condemned by Innocent XI in 1679....
    profess
    a vow" (in a religious order), a back-formation from profession or else from Medieval Latin professare, from professus "avowed...
    lulu
    trick and burst the bubble, but not before her name was used as a word: Such [musically uneducated persons] start from the avowed...
    jayhawker
    Bushwhackers are men, united together, but not soldiers, who live in the bush; and whose avowed object is to kill every Union...
    swan
    large, web-footed swimming bird, stately and graceful in the water, noted for its long neck and white down; Old English swan "swan," from Proto-Germanic *swanaz "singer" (source also of Old Saxon swan, Old Norse svanr, Danish svane, Swedish svan, Middle Dutch swane, Dutch zwaan,
    protest
    c. 1400, "avowal, pledge, solemn declaration," from Old French protest, from protester, from Latin protestari "declare publicly, testify, protest," from pro- "forth, before" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before") + testari "testify," from testis "witness
    admit
    late 14c., admitten, "let in," from Latin admittere "admit, give entrance, allow to enter; grant an audience," of acts, "let be done, allow, permit," from ad "to" (see ad-) + mittere "let go, send" (see mission). The sense of "concede in argument as valid or true" is recorded by
    affirm
    Middle English affermen, affirmen, "to decide upon" (c. 1300); "to state positively" (late 14c.), from Old French afermer (Modern French affirmer) "affirm, confirm; strengthen, consolidate," from Latin affirmare "to make steady, strengthen," figuratively "confirm, corroborate," f
    take
    Middle English taken, from late Old English tacan "to grip, seize by force, lay hold of," from a Scandinavian source (such as Old Norse taka "take, grasp, lay hold," past tense tok, past participle tekinn; also compare Swedish ta, past participle tagit). This is reconstructed to
    hold
    Middle English holden, earlier halden, from Old English haldan (Anglian), healdan (West Saxon), "to contain; to grasp; to retain (liquid, etc.); to observe, fulfill (a custom, etc.); to have as one's own; to have in mind (of opinions, etc.); to possess, control, rule; to detain,

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    Dictionary entries near avowed
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