abet
/əˈbɛt
/verb (abets, abetting, abetted) [with object]
1Encourage or assist (someone) to do something wrong, in particular to commit a crime: he was not guilty of murder, but guilty of aiding and abetting others...
- Now he had betrayed the hometown people by aiding and abetting their enemies.
- The basic premise is that anyone who opposes the foreign or domestic policies of the government is ipso facto guilty of aiding and abetting the terrorists.
- The one who did not return to clear his name became the only one still convicted - of aiding and abetting people now cleared of any offence.
Synonyms
assist, aid, help, lend a hand, support, back, encourage;
cooperate with, collaborate with, work with, connive with, collude with, go along with, be in collusion with, be hand in glove with, side with;
second, endorse, boost, favour, champion, sanction, succour;
promote, further, expedite, push, give a push to, connive at, participate in
1.1Encourage or assist someone to commit (a crime): we are aiding and abetting this illegal traffic...
- As the accessory foresaw only minor physical harm, he was guilty of aiding and abetting manslaughter.
- In any jurisdiction in the country, aiding and abetting a felony is a crime, subject to prosecution, trial, and imprisonment.
- The implication is that business schools are aiding and abetting accounting fraud and other misdeeds by failing to teach their students not to commit crimes.
Derivatives
abetment
/ noun ...- In fact, the concept of abetment seems to play no independent role now.
- The law defines the use of terms such as harassment, sexual harassment, stalking and abetment to discrimination and racial segregation.
- It was the beginning of a new phase in which violence was organised and orchestrated with the abetment of the State.
abettor
/ (also abetter) noun ...- You can be an aider and abettor in a manslaughter, notwithstanding that your activity did not cause the death.
- They would plead as aiders and abettors and get a lesser sentence.
- However, difficulties arise when the crime committed by the principal offender is more serious than initially envisaged by the abettors.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'urge to do something good or bad'): from Old French abeter, from a- (from Latin ad 'to, at') + beter 'hound, urge on'.
If you abet someone these days you are very likely to be up to no good, but this was not always the case. Since the late 18th century the word has mainly been found as aid and abet, ‘to help and encourage someone in some wrongdoing’, but in its early use to abet someone was simply to urge them to do something, not necessarily bad. It comes from the Old French word abeter, which could also mean ‘to encourage a hound to bite’. bait (Middle English) has a similar root.