abear

A1B3E1A1R1
UK/əˈbɛə/UK[əˈbɛː]US/əˈbɛɹ/US[əˈbɛɚ]

verb

To put up with; to endure; to bear.

OriginMiddle English aberen ← Old English āberan ← Proto-Germanic *uzberaną →
First used 9th c.Scrabble 7
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Meanings

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

present singular third person abears · participle present abearing · past abore · participle past aborn · participle past aborne

  1. archaicdialectaltransitiveTo put up with; to endure; to bear.First known use 9th c.

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

    1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009
    1 more example

    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.

    1926, Hope Mirrlees, chapter 6, in Lud-in-the-Mist, London: Millennium, published 2000, page 68
  2. obsoletetransitiveTo bear; to carry.First known use 10th–15th c.
  3. obsoletereflexivetransitiveTo behave; to comport oneself.First known use 16th–17th c.

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

    1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.12
nounabear (plural abears)

plural abears

  1. obsoleteBearing, behavior.First known use 14th–17th c.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
abideabybearbrookconductdreeenduremannerpassput up withsticksufferswallowtholetolerateundergo

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰer-“to bear, carry”
  2. Proto-Germanic*uzberaną“to bear off, bring forth, produce”
  3. Old Englishāberan“to bear, carry, carry away”
  4. Middle Englishaberen
  5. Englishabear

From 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).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with abear

aretherewherecarecompareairsharehairmaryrepairfairbearwearrarelayerpairawareprepareprayermayorterrorPierresparebare
All rhymes →

Anagrams

RaabeabareBearaAreba
Cite this entry
APA

abear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abear

MLA

“abear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abear. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abear,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abear.

Source: abear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.