abettor
nounUK /əˈbɛtə/ · US /əˈbɛtɚ/
Etymology From Middle English abettour, from Anglo-Norman abettour, from Old French abeter + -our (“-or”). See abet.
1
One that abets an offender; one that incites; instigates; encourages.
- Thou foul abettor! thou notorious bawd! Thou plantest scandal and displacest laud:1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:
2
A supporter or advocate.
- […] when he recollected that, being there as an assistant, he actually seemed—no matter what unhappy train of circumstances had brought him to that pass—to be the aider and abettor of a system which filled him with honest disgust and indignation, he loathed himself […]1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 8, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- accessory, accomplice, advocate, aid, ally, assistant, confederate, cooperator, helper
- Derived terms
- aider and abettor