/əˈbɛə/, [əˈbɛː], /əˈbɛɹ/
OriginFrom Middle English aberen, from Old English āberan (“to bear, carry, carry away”), from ā- (“away, out”), a- + 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).
- archaic, dialectal, transitiveTo put up with; to endure; to bear.
“Hunder-cook, indeed! which it's what I never abore yet, and never will abear.”
“And he seems sweet on Miss Hazel though she can’t abear him, though when I ask her about him she snaps my head off and tells me to mind my own business.”
- obsolete, transitiveTo bear; to carry.
- obsolete, reflexive, transitiveTo behave; to comport oneself.
“So did the Faerie knight himselfe abeare, / And stouped oft his head from shame to shield […]”
- obsoleteBearing, behavior.
Formsabears(present, singular, third-person) · abearing(participle, present) · abore(past) · aborn(participle, past) · aborne(participle, past) · abears(plural)