different between alow vs avow

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??l??/

Etymology 1

From Middle English aloue, equivalent to a- +? low.

Adverb

alow (not comparable)

1. (now chiefly Scotland) Low down. [from 14th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.8:

     Sometimes aloft he layd, sometimes alow, / Now here, now there, and oft him neare he mist […].

2. (nautical) Towards the lower part of a vessel; towards the lower rigging or the decks. [from 16th c.]
   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 26, [1]

     Ay, Ay, Ay, all is up; and I must up too / Early in the morning, aloft from alow.

Preposition

alow

1. (Scotland) Below.

See also

• aloft

Etymology 2

a- +? low, from low (“flame”).

Adjective

alow (not comparable)

1. (Scotland) alight; ablaze

Anagrams

• AWOL, awol

English

Etymology

From Middle English avowen, from Old French avouer, from Latin advocare (“to call to, call upon, hence to call as a witness, defender, patron, or advocate”), from ad (“to”) + vocare (“to call”). Doublet of advoke, avouch, and advocate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??va?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Verb

avow (third-person singular simple present avows, present participle avowing, simple past and past participle avowed)

1. (transitive) To declare openly and boldly, as something believed to be right; to own, acknowledge or confess frankly.
2. (transitive) To bind or devote by a vow.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wyclif to this entry?)

3. (law) To acknowledge and justify, as an act done. See avowry.

Antonyms

• disavow

Related terms

Translations

Noun

avow

1. (obsolete) avowal

   • without thy Knowledge and Avow

Further reading

• avow in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• avow in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• avow at OneLook Dictionary Search