aver (2), avere, avoire (oire as war)

[Fr. avoir that which one po e es; from avoir = to have; Sp. haber = substance, wealth, riches; from haber = to have; Port. haver (sing.), have res (pl.); Ital. avere = estate, riches; from avere = to have; Low Lat. avera, averia; from Lat. habeo to have.] A. ( Of the forms avoire and avere.) Gen.: Property of any kind. B. ( Of the form aver.) Spec.: As in the old pastoral times property in the main consisted of the domesticated animals, the word aver became confined to them [AFFRI, AIVER, AVERCORN, AVER-LAND, AVER-SILVER, AVERIE), and next, becoming yet more specialised, terminated by signifying a work-horse. ( Scotch & N. of England.) "An inch of a nag is worth the span of an aver ."Ferguson: Scotch Proverbs , p. 7. (S. in Boucher .)