v. 1
To incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime.
v. 2
To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid (any good cause, opinion, or action).
v. 3
To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.

Related words

Word family: abetment abettal abettor

Forms

Past participle: abetted
e.g. abetted → sanctioned, countenanced, tolerated, patronized…

Choose the right word

Abet, Instigate, Incite, Incites or To?

Abet and instigate are now used almost without exception in a bad sense; one may incite either to good or evil. Abet and instigate apply either to persons or actions, incite to persons only; one incites a person to an action.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

approve I approve of everything that you did, except this.
tolerate I would say that I tolerate cold better than heat.
countenance My wrath is as fearsome as my countenance is splendid.
patronize Don't patronize me under the guise of concern.
incite The speaker tried to incite the people to rebellion.
instigate Feminists instigate women against men.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
abet		falling
approve		falling
tolerate		rising
countenance		rising
patronize		steady
incite		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: aid¹
4 letters: help¹, urge¹, spur¹, goad¹
5 letters: favor²
6 letters: assist², favour², uphold², incite², foment², succor²
7 letters: support², promote², approve², provoke², collude², succour, connive²
8 letters: advocate³, tolerate³, sanction², conspire³, embolden³
9 letters: encourage³, stimulate³, instigate³, patronize³, patronise
11 letters: countenance³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (favor² = 2 syllables).