Abettor

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈbɛtə/

Definitions

1. Someone who assists or encourages another in committing a wrongdoing or crime
2. A person who gives support or aid to someone doing something illegal or unethical
3. An individual who helps or backs someone in carrying out a harmful or unlawful act

Etymology: The word has a French ancestry that is easy to see once you split it apart. Its core is "abet", which came into Middle English from Anglo-Norman and Old French "abeter", a verb meaning to bait or incite, originally used of urging on a fight, such as setting dogs on an animal. The ending "-our" is the French agent suffix, which turns a verb into the name of the person who does the action, so an abettor is literally one who incites or urges someone on. The Middle English form "abettour" was borrowed from Anglo-Norman "abettour", which had the same meaning and reflects the same suffix in its French shape. That is why the word looks more French than many English words with Latin roots: it passed through the Norman-French legal and courtly vocabulary before settling into English spelling. Its sense has narrowed over time. It now refers almost exclusively to someone who helps another commit a crime, and the bait-and-incite idea survives only in the sense of encouraging wrongdoing.

Synonyms: accomplice, instigator, encourager, supporter, collaborator

Antonyms: opponent, detractor, enemy, adversary, critic