allege

allege

See also: allégé and allège

English

Alternative forms

• alledg, alledge, allegge (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdʒ

Etymology 1

From Middle English aleggen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman aleger, the form from Old French esligier (“to acquit”), from Medieval Latin *exlītigāre (“to clear at law”), from Latin ex (“out”) + lītigō (“sue at law”), the meaning from Old French alleguer, from Latin allēgāre, present active infinitive of allēgō (“send, depute; relate, mention, adduce”), from ad (“to”) + lēgō (“send”).

Verb

allege (third-person singular simple present alleges, present participle alleging, simple past and past participle alleged)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To state under oath, to plead.
2. (archaic) To cite or quote an author or his work for or against.
3. (transitive) To adduce (something) as a reason, excuse, support etc.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 39, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     I will further alleage a storie […] to make us palpably feele his naturall condition.

4. (transitive) To make a claim as justification or proof; to make an assertion without proof.

   The agency alleged that my credit history had problems.

Related terms

• allegation
• privilege

Translations

to state under oath

Bulgarian: заявявам под клетва (zajavjavam pod kletva) Chinese: Mandarin: 宣誓 (zh) (xuānshì) Finnish: vannoa (fi) Italian: dichiarare (it), sostenere (it) Japanese: 確言する (ja) (かくげんする, kakugen suru), 言い切る (iikiru) Russian: заявля́ть под присягой impf (zajavljátʹ pod prisjagoj) Spanish: afirmar (es)

to adduce as a reason, excuse, support etc.

Italian: addurre (it), supportare (it), avvalorare (it) Russian: ссыла́ться (ru) impf (ssylátʹsja) (+ на + accusative case), Spanish: alegar (es)

to assert without proof

Armenian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: твърдя (bg) impf (tvǎrdja) Catalan: al·legar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 宣稱／宣称 (zh) (xuānchēng) Dutch: beweren (nl) Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: epäillä (fi) French: prétendre (fr) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: behaupten (de) Greek: ισχυρίζομαι (el) (ischyrízomai) Italian: sostenere (it), asserire (it) Japanese: 主張する (ja) (しゅちょうする, shuchō suru), 喧伝する (ja) (けんでんする, kenden suru), 言い張る (iiharu) Khmer: please add this translation if you can Latin: praetentō Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: alegar (pt) Russian: безоснова́тельно утвержда́ть impf (bezosnovátelʹno utverždátʹ), голосло́вно утвержда́ть impf (goloslóvno utverždátʹ) Scottish Gaelic: cuir às leth Spanish: alegar (es), afirmar (es) Swedish: påstå (sv) Telugu: ఆరోపించు (te) (ārōpiñcu) Thai: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: cáo buộc

Etymology 2

From Middle English alleggen, from Old French alegier, from Latin alleviāre, present active infinitive of alleviō (“lighten”), from ad + levis (“light”). Doublet of alleviate.

Verb

allege (third-person singular simple present alleges, present participle alleging, simple past and past participle alleged)

1. (obsolete) To lighten, diminish.
   • 1470–1485 (date produced)​, Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, OCLC 71490786; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, OCLC 890162034:

     and suffir never your soveraynté to be alledged with your subjects, nother the soveraygne of your persone and londys.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:

     Hart that is inly hurt, is greatly eased / With hope of thing, that may allegge his smart […].

See also

• Wikipedia article on "oath"

References

• “allege”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.

Further reading

• allege in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• allege in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

---

Latin

Verb

allege

1. second-person singular present active imperative of allegō