Avers

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. States firmly or confidently that something is true
2. Declares or affirms a fact or belief with certainty
3. Expresses a strong conviction or positive assertion about a matter

Etymology: "Avers" is the third-person singular present of "aver," and the verb has two unrelated ancestors that happen to have collided in English. One strand comes from Early Medieval Latin "advērō," built on Latin "vērus" ("true"), which passed through Old French "averer" into Middle English. Its sense of solemnly declaring something to be true follows directly from that Latin root, so the verb is essentially a word about truth. The other strand is far more down-to-earth. Middle English "aver" meant a workhorse or beast of burden, and by extension property, cattle and wealth. Its source is either Old French "aver," "aveir" (possession, from Latin "habēre," "to have"), or Old English "eafor," meaning a workhorse or a tenant's duty to transport goods. Scholars cannot settle which of these is correct, so the origin of this strand remains uncertain. Either way, the meaning of "aver" as "to state as fact" has nothing to do with livestock or possessions, despite the shared spelling.

Synonyms: asserts, declares

Antonyms: denies, contradicts