allege Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb report or maintain
    aver; say.
    • He alleged that he was the victim of a crime
    • He said it was too late to intervene in the war
    • The registrar says that I owe the school money

WordNet

Al*lege" transitive verb
Etymology
OE. aleggen to bring forward as evidence, OF. esligier to buy, prop. to free from legal difficulties, fr. an assumed LL. exlitigare; L. ex + litigare to quarrel, sue (see Litigate). The word was confused with L. allegare (see Allegation), and lex law. Cf. Allay.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Alleged present participle & verbal noun Alleging
Definitions
  1. To bring forward with positiveness; to declare; to affirm; to assert; as, to allege a fact.
  2. To cite or quote; as, to allege the authority of a judge. Archaic
  3. To produce or urge as a reason, plea, or excuse; as, he refused to lend, alleging a resolution against lending. Syn. -- To bring forward; adduce; advance; assign; produce; declare; affirm; assert; aver; predicate.
Al*lege" transitive verb
Etymology
See Allay.
Definitions
  1. To alleviate; to lighten, as a burden or a trouble. Obs. Wyclif.

Webster 1913