Avail

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Dr. Goodword
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Avail

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri May 08, 2015 9:45 pm

• avail •

Pronunciation: ê-vaylHear it!

Part of Speech: Verb

Meaning: To be of value, of use, to afford help.

Notes: Today's Good Word wanders a bit semantically. The noun avail generally refers to results, as 'to make several attempts to no avail'. The adjective, available, means "accessible, can be obtained", as 'all available assistance is appreciated'. The reflexive form, <i>to avail oneself</i>, is generally used in the sense of "to take advantage of", as 'to avail oneself of the facilities at the YMCA'. The basic meaning of the verb, however, is "to be of some value or help".

In Play: The verb avail may be used transitively or intransitively. It may be used with a direct object like this: "All his millions could not avail Robin Banks in his quest for a happy life." Without a direct object we may use the verb thus: "None of April Day's clever arguments availed to convince her parents to let her drive the new car to the shore."

Word History: Today's Good Word is an Old English concoction of a- "to" + vailen "to avail". Vailen is a variant of the stem of the Old French verb valoir "to be worth", inherited from Latin valere "to be worth". This same verb went into the Latin words that English borrowed as valid, valiant, and valor. (Let me avail myself of the opportunity now to thank Mary Jane Stoneburg, one of the Good Word editors, for pointing out this interesting word family to us.)
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Slava
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Re: Avail

Postby Slava » Fri May 15, 2015 12:07 am

Going back to the noun, has anyone ever come across a positive usage? "To no avail" comes up all the time, but has anyone ever seen "to avail"? With avail as a noun, that is. Not, "to avail oneself of x".
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
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Re: Avail

Postby LukeJavan8 » Fri May 15, 2015 12:04 pm

I recently saw:

"To avail himself of the scholarship" in a story about
a handicapped boy and his qualifications.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Slava
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Re: Avail

Postby Slava » Fri May 15, 2015 12:51 pm

That's the verb, though. I'm thinking of something along the lines of, "The scholarship worked to his avail." It works, but I don't think I've ever seen it.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
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Re: Avail

Postby LukeJavan8 » Fri May 15, 2015 1:07 pm

Not a clue on my part.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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