In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
ALLEGE
allege, aver, say
(verb) report or maintain; “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”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
allege (third-person singular simple present alleges, present participle alleging, simple past and past participle alleged)
(obsolete, transitive) To state under oath, to plead.
(archaic) To cite or quote an author or his work for or against.
(transitive) To adduce (something) as a reason, excuse, support etc.
(transitive) To make a claim as justification or proof; to make an assertion without proof.
Etymology 2
Verb
allege (third-person singular simple present alleges, present participle alleging, simple past and past participle alleged)
(obsolete) To lighten, diminish.
Source: Wiktionary
Al*lege", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Alleged; p. pr. & vb. n. Alleging.] Etym: [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.]
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", v. t. Etym: [See Allay.]
Definition: To alleviate; to lighten, as a burden or a trouble. [Obs.] Wyclif.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Coffee Trivia
