avouchment

plural avouchments

1. countableuncountableThe act of avouching.

   While in the judgement of wise Men, by laying the foundation of his defence on the avouchment of that which is so manifestly untrue, he hath giv’n a worse soile to his own cause, then when his whole Forces were at any time overthrown.

   1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes, page 5

2. countableuncountableA positive declaration.

   Under oath, at the Army-McCarthy hearings, he denied ever having said this. His denials were as meaningless as his avouchments, and reputable journalists heard him.

   1959, Richard H. Rovere, “What He Was and What He Did-1”, in Senator Joe McCarthy, Cleveland: Meridian, published 1963, page 31