/ˈvaʊt͡ʃ/
OriginThe verb is derived from Middle English vouchen (“to call, summon; to provide; to make available, proffer; to affirm, declare formally”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman vocher, voucher, woucher, and Old French vocher, voucher, vochier (“to call, summon; to claim; to call upon, invoke; to denounce”) [and other forms], from Vulgar Latin *vocicāre, derived from Latin vocāre (“to call, summon; to call upon, invoke; to designate, name; to bring or put (into a condition or state”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- (“to sound out; to speak”).
Verb sense 8.1 (“to summon (someone) into court to establish a warranty of title to land”) in the form vouch to warrant or vouch to warranty is a calque from Anglo-Norman and Old French voucher a garant.
The noun is derived from the verb.
- transitiveTo call on (someone) to be a witness to something.
“Nor need I ſpeak my Deeds, for thoſe you ſee,
The Sun and Day are Witneſſes for me.
Let him who fights unſeen, relate his own,
And vouch the ſilent Stars, and conſcious Moon.”
- transitiveTo cite or rely on (an authority, a written work, etc.) in support of one's actions or opinions.
“But the most catholike and renoumed doctours of Christes religion in the corroboration of their argumentes and sentences, do alledge the same histories and vouche (as I mought say) to their ayde the a”
“[F]or more credit to vvhich aſſertion hee vouched ſundry books, and acts, […]”
“Pray tell us where your moderate (for great ones you acknowledg to do harm, and to be uſeleſs) Penalties have been uſed, with ſuch Succeſs, that we may be paſt doubt too. If you can ſhew no ſuch place”
- transitiveTo affirm or warrant the correctness or truth of (something); also, to affirm or warrant (the truth of an assertion or statement).
“Nay tis moſt credible, we heere receiue it,
A certaintie vouch'd from our Coſin Auſtria, […]”
“Deliuer them this Paper: hauing read it,
Bid them repayre to th' Market place, where I
Euen in theirs, and in the Commons eares
Will vouch the truth of it.”
“[T]hey have made him aſham'd firſt to Vouch the Truth of the Relation, and afterwards even to Credit it.”
- transitiveTo bear witness or testify to the nature or qualities (of someone or something).
“If a Man ſucceeds in any Attempt, though undertook with never ſo much Folly and Raſhneſs, his Succeſs ſhall vouch him a Politician; and good Luck ſhall paſs for deep Contrivance: […]”
- transitiveTo back, confirm, or support (someone or something) with credible evidence or proof.
“[M]ee damp horror chil'd
At ſuch bold words voucht with a deed ſo bold: […]”
- archaic, transitiveSynonym of vouchsafe (“to condescendingly or graciously give or grant (something)”).
“Our Maſter Mars
Haſt vouch'd his Oracle, and to Arcite gave
The grace of the Contention: So the Deities
Have ſhewd due juſtice: […]”
- archaic, obsolete, transitiveTo assert, aver, or declare (something).
“But wherein then according to their Opinion did this Image of God conſiſt? Why, in that Power and Dominion that God gave Adam over the Creatures: In that he was vouched his immediate Deputy upon Earth”
“[W]hat we have done
None shall dare vouch, tho' it be truly known; […]”
- transitiveIn full vouch to warrant or vouch to warranty: to summon (someone) into court to establish a warranty of title to land.
“[W]hen the Tenant being impleaded within a particular iuriſdiction (as in London or the like) voucheth one to warranty and prayes that he may be ſummoned in ſome other county out of the iuriſdiction o”
“If Edwards therefore be tenant of the freehold in poſſeſſion, and John Barker be tenant in tail in remainder, here Edwards doth firſt vouch Barker, and then Barker vouches Jacob Morland the common vou”
- transitiveFollowed by over: of a vouchee (a person summoned to court to establish a warranty of title): to summon (someone) to court in their place.
“[I]t is now uſual always to have a recovery with double voucher at the leaſt; by firſt conveying an eſtate of freehold to any indifferent perſon, againſt whom the praecipe is brought; and then he vouc”
- obsolete, transitiveTo guarantee legal title (to something).
“[W]ill vouchers vouch him no more of his purchaſes & doubles then the length and breadth of a payre of Indentures?”
“If one ignorantly buyeth ſtolen Cattel, and hath them fairly vouched unto him, and publickly in an open Fair payeth Tole for them, he cannot be damnified thereby: […]”
- intransitiveTo bear witness or testify; to guarantee or sponsor.
“I can vouch that he wasn’t at the scene of the crime.”
“What can you vouch againſt him, Signior Lucio? Is this the man that you did tell vs of?”
“I therefore vouch againe,
That with ſome mixtures povverfull ore the blood,
Or vvith ſome dram coniur'd to this effect,
He vvrought vpon her.”
- intransitiveTo provide evidence or proof.
- intransitiveTo express confidence in or take responsibility for (the correctness or truth of) something.
“Lives still such maid?—Fair damsels say,
For further vouches not my lay,
Save that such lived in Britain's isle,
Where Lorn's bright Edith scorn'd to smile.”
“The tears that suffused my sister's eyes when I mentioned our friend, and her heightened colour seemed to vouch for the truth of the reports that had reached me.”
- archaic, obsoleteAn assertion, a declaration; also, a formal attestation or warrant of the correctness or truth of something.
“VVho will beleeue thee Iſabell?
My vnſoild name, th' auſteereneſſe of my life,
My vouch againſt you, and my place i'th State,
VVill ſo your accuſation ouer-vveigh,
That you ſhall ſtifle in your ovvne ”
Formsvouches(present, singular, third-person) · vouching(participle, present) · vouched(participle, past) · vouched(past) · vouches(plural)