abet

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime.
2. (transitive) To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid (any good cause, opinion, or action).
3. (obsolete, transitive) To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
4. (obsolete) To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc., to bet.

Noun

1. (obsolete) Fraud or cunning.
2. (obsolete) An act of abetting; of helping; of giving aid.

Opposite of

baffle, confound, counteract, denounce, deter, abet, assist, expedite, facilitate, further, help, hurdle, nurture

Synonyms

incite

instigate

stir up

encourage

stimulate

urge

spur

prompt

prod

stir

impel

help

trigger

spur on

assist

aid

provocate

provoke

agitate

rouse

cheer

excite

promote

sway

sustain

support

countenance

egg on

invite

aid and abet

save

serve

spare

spirit

stooge

suborn

subserve

subsidise

subsidize

subvene

underpin

wager

whip

give relief to

help along

benefact

sanction

abettal

advance

advantage

Translations

aufhetzen

instigar

incitar

instigar

instigar

prikkelen

aansporen

herausfordern

espolear

antreiben

anspornen

opwekken

aanvuren

esporar

aanwakkeren

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əˈbɛt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: abetten

Cognate with Icelandic: beita

Cognate with Old English: *ābǣtan

In summary

From Middle English abetten, abette, from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”), either from Middle Dutch bētan (“incite”) or from Old Norse beita (“to cause to bite, bait, incite”), from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną (“to cause to bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”). Cognate with Icelandic beita (“to set dogs on; to feed”).
Alternate etymology traces the Middle English and Old French words through Old English *ābǣtan (“to hound on”), from ā- + bǣtan (“to bait”), from the same source (Proto-Germanic *baitijaną).
See also bait, bet.