different between befriend vs abet

English

Etymology

From be- +? friend. Compare Saterland Frisian befrüündje (“to befriend”), Dutch bevrienden (“to befriend”), German Low German befründen (“to befriend”),German befreunden (“to befriend”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: b?fr?nd, IPA^(key): /b??f??nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd

Verb

befriend (third-person singular simple present befriends, present participle befriending, simple past and past participle befriended)

1. (transitive) To become a friend of, to make friends with.
   • 1854, Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 143.

     Every little pine needle expanded and swelled with sympathy and befriended me.
2. (transitive, dated) To act as a friend to, to assist.
   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, Directions to Servants

     Brother servants must always befriend one another.
3. (transitive) To favor.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

     If it will please Caesar / To be so good to Caesar, as to hear me, / I shall beseech him to befriend himself.

   • 1709, John Denham "The Sophy", in Poems and translations: with the Sophy, a tragedy, Fifth edition [1]

     Now if your plots be ripe, you are befriended / With opportunity.

   • 1709, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism

     Be thou the first true merit to befriend; / His praise is lost, who stays till all commend.

   • 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato: A tragedy. As it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's servants, Act II, edited and published by Jacob Tonson (1733)

     See them embarked, And tell me if the winds and seas befriend them.

   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, ch. 4, "Morrison's Pill"

     This Universe has its Laws. If we walk according to the Law, the Law-Maker will befriend us; if not, not.

Antonyms

• befoe
• defriend
• unfriend

Derived terms

• befriender
• befriendment
• unbefriended
• unbefriending

Related terms

• friend
• friendly

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English abetten, abette, from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”), either from Middle Dutch b?tan (“incite”) or from Old Norse beita (“to cause to bite, bait, incite”), from Proto-Germanic *baitijan? (“to cause to bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?eyd- (“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 *?b?tan (“to hound on”), from ?- + b?tan (“to bait”), from the same Proto-Germanic [Term?] source.

See also bait, bet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??b?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Verb

abet (third-person singular simple present abets, present participle abetting, simple past and past participle abetted)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable. [from end of 14th century to early 17th century]
2. (transitive) To incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime. [from c. 1350-1470]
   • 2017 September 27, David Browne, "Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91," Rolling Stone

     By the early Seventies, Playboy was selling seven million copies a month and Hefner's globe-trotting lifestyle was abetted by his private jet, the Big Bunny, that contained a circular bed, an inside disco and a wet bar.
3. (transitive, archaic) To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid (any good cause, opinion, or action); to maintain. [from late 16th century]
4. (obsolete) To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc., to bet.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:abet.

Synonyms

• (to instigate or encourage by aid or countenance): incite, instigate, set on, egg on, foment, advocate, countenance, encourage, second, uphold, aid, assist, support, sustain, back, connive at, promote, sanction, advocate, embolden, favor, cooperate with

Antonyms

• baffle
• confound
• contradict
• counteract
• denounce
• deter
• disapprove
• disconcert
• discourage
• dissuade
• expose
• frustrate
• hinder
• impede
• obstruct
• thwart

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

abet (plural abets)

1. (obsolete) Fraud or cunning. [mid-12th century to mid-14th century]
2. (obsolete) An act of abetting; of helping; of giving aid. [from c. 1350-1470]

References

Anagrams

• Bate, Beta, Teba, bate, beat, beta

Aragonese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

abet m

1. fir-tree

References

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) , “abet”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, ?ISBN

Chamorro

Etymology

From Spanish vamos a ver (“we'll see”)

Phrase

abet

1. An expression of doubt

Danish

Verb

abet

1. past participle of abe

Lombard

Etymology

From Latin habitus (“habit, appearance”).

Noun

abet m

1. religious habit (clothing)