avouchment

avouch +‎ -ment

avouchment (countable and uncountable, plural avouchments)

1. The act of avouching.
   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes, p. 5,

     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.

2. A positive declaration.
   • 1959, Richard H. Rovere, Senator Joe McCarthy, Cleveland: Meridian, 1963, “What He Was and What He Did—1,” p. 31,

     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.

• avouchment in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.