What does abetting mean?
Abetting is the present participle and gerund of the verb 'abet', meaning to encourage, assist, or support another person in committing a crime or serious wrongdoing. The word is most familiar from the legal phrase 'aiding and abetting,' which describes someone who helps an offense occur without necessarily carrying out the criminal act itself — a getaway driver, for example, may be charged with aiding and abetting even if they never entered the building. Outside the courtroom, abetting is used more figuratively to criticize behavior that enables harmful conduct, as in 'his silence amounted to abetting the fraud.' The word carries a strongly negative connotation, implying complicity and moral responsibility rather than innocent help. Its origins lie in medieval French, where a related term meant to urge dogs on by baiting them — making abetting, at root, a word about goading others toward action they might not otherwise take.
Encouraging, assisting, or supporting someone in committing a crime or wrongdoing.
"The accountant admitted abetting his employer in evading taxes for nearly a decade."
In criminal law, 'aiding and abetting' is the standard fixed phrase.
The act or practice of encouraging or assisting wrongdoing.
"Abetting a crime carries penalties nearly as severe as committing it."
Used chiefly in legal discussion of complicity.
Aiding and abetting is one of the oldest legal phrases in English — and you can be guilty of it without ever touching the crime yourself.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of abetting
Abetting derives from the verb 'abet,' which came into English in the late Middle Ages from the Anglo-Norman French 'abeter,' meaning to urge on or incite. This French verb combined a prefix with the root that also gave English the word 'bait' — originally referring to setting dogs upon an animal. In English law, 'abet' took on its enduring sense of encouraging or assisting a crime, giving rise to the classic legal pairing 'aiding and abetting.' Cognates include 'bait' itself, which preserves the original image of goading or luring.
Related word forms
How abetting is actually used
Almost exclusively used in legal contexts or figuratively for enabling bad behavior; almost always appears in the phrase 'aiding and abetting' in formal legal usage.
Easily confused with abetting
Abetting means encouraging or assisting wrongdoing, while abating means lessening or reducing something such as noise or a nuisance.