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avail

/əˈveɪl/ noun

Latin root: valere Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about avail at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A means of serving.
    of no avail

verb

  1. Use to one's advantage.
    He availed himself of the available resources
  2. Be of use to, be useful to.
    It will avail them to dispose of their booty
  3. Take or use.
    She helped herself to some of the office supplies

Origin

From Middle English availen (“to be of use”), from Old French a (“to”) + vail from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valere (“to be worthy, strong”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)