- avoid
- c.1300, from Anglo-Fr. avoider "to clear out, withdraw (oneself)," from O.Fr. esvuidier "to empty out," from es- "out" + vuidier "to be empty," from voide "empty, vast, wide, hollow, waste" (see void). Originally a law term; modern sense of "have nothing to do with" also was in M.E. and corresponds to O.Fr. eviter with which it was perhaps confused. Meaning "escape, evade" first attested 1520s.