abear

English

Etymology

From Middle English aberen, from Old English āberan (“to bear, carry, carry away”), from ā- (“away, out”), ar- + beran (“to bear”), from Proto-Germanic *uzberaną (“to bear off, bring forth, produce”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”), equivalent to a- +‎ bear. Cognate with Old High German irberan, Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (usbairan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə.ˈbɛː/
• IPA^(key): /ə.ˈbɛɚ/, /ə.ˈbɛɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Verb

abear (third-person singular simple present abears, present participle abearing, simple past abore, past participle aborn or aborne)

1. (transitive, now rare, regional) To put up with; to endure. [from 9th c.]
   • 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram‎^[1], HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:

     Hunder-cook, indeed! which it's what I never abore yet, and never will abear.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To bear; to carry. [10th-15th c.]
3. (transitive, reflexive, obsolete) To behave; to comport oneself. [16th-17th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.12:

     So did the Faerie knight himselfe abeare, / And stouped oft his head from shame to shield […]

Usage notes

• (endure): Used in the negative nowadays.

Derived terms

• abearance
• abearing

Noun

abear (plural abears)

1. (obsolete) Bearing, behavior. [14th-17th c.]

Anagrams

• Abaré, Areba, Raabe