avouch

American  

[uh-vouch] / əˈvaʊtʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to make frank acknowledgment or affirmation of; declare or assert with positiveness.

2. to assume responsibility for; vouch for; guarantee.

3. to admit; confess.

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avouch British  

/ əˈvaʊtʃ /

verb

1. to vouch for; guarantee

2. to acknowledge

3. to assert

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Other Word Forms

• avoucher noun
• avouchment noun
• unavouched adjective

Etymology

Origin of avouch

1350–1400; Middle English avouchen < Middle French avouchier < Latin advocāre. See a- ⁵, vouch, advocate

Explanation

When you avouch, you assert that something is true. An accused man might be acquitted if several eyewitnesses avouch that he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. Avouch is an extremely old-fashioned way to say another (only slightly old-fashioned) word, avow. Use either word to mean "assert" or "declare." While it's unusual to hear people use avouch, it's common to say something like, "I'll vouch for my friend," meaning you'll give evidence or make a guarantee on your friend's behalf. The root of avouch is the Latin advocare, "call to as a witness."

Example Sentences

Before my God, I might not this believe, without the sensible and true avouch of mine own eyes.

From Textbooks • Mar. 27, 2020

For the smiling lips of men More insultingly declare, Even than their lips avouch, All their insolence of soul.

From Atta Troll by Heine, Heinrich

And it is equally a fact, which every man's experience may avouch, that the Understanding and those feelings are frequently at variance.

From Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare by Smith, David Nichol

That bonnets are the source of a multitude of evils is a truth that every married man will not, for a moment, hesitate to avouch; however Henry or Augustus—not yet married—may hypocritically venture to dispute.

From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

They avouch Him to be their God; He avouches them to be His people.

From The Ordinance of Covenanting by Cunningham, John