Avert

How to spell avert

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce avert

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does avert mean?

1. verbTo prevent something harmful or unwanted from happening.
2. verbTo turn away one's eyes, face, or attention from something.

Avert in a sentence

• The negotiators worked through the night to avert a strike.

• She had to avert her eyes from the bright glare of the welding torch.

• A small repair now can avert a costly breakdown later.

• Many drivers instinctively avert their gaze from the wreckage.

Where does avert come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Avert comes from the Latin verb avertere, which was built from the prefix ab-, meaning 'away', and the verb vertere, meaning 'to turn'. The literal sense was therefore 'to turn away', whether turning aside a person, an object, or one's own gaze. English took it on in the fifteenth century, partly through Old French, and the figurative meaning of 'to ward off' or 'to prevent something bad from happening' grew naturally out of the idea of turning a threat aside. The same vertere root runs through a large family of English words, including 'convert', 'divert', 'reverse', and 'versus', so the spelled 'vert' chunk is a reliable anchor. Remembering that you are turning something away, with a single -t at the end, helps keep the spelling steady.

How the word is built

• a- (from ab-: away)
• vert (from vertere: to turn)