avail
Meaning
to be of use or advantage to; to help or benefit
to make use of; to take advantage of (used with a reflexive pronoun, as in "avail oneself of")
use or benefit, especially in the phrase "to no avail" or "of little avail"
Structure
Usage
All his efforts to convince them were of no avail.
You must avail yourself of every opportunity to learn.
His wealth did not avail him in his time of grief.
Etymology
The word 'avail' entered Middle English from Anglo-French 'availler', a verb meaning 'to be of worth or value'. This French term was itself a construction from the Latin phrase 'ad valere', literally 'to be strong towards' or 'to be of value to'. The core Latin root 'valere' (to be strong, to be worth) is of Proto-Indo-European origin, related to concepts of power and health, seen in words like 'valiant' and 'valid'. Over time, the literal sense of 'being strong towards something' softened into the more abstract modern meanings of 'to be of use, benefit, or advantage', capturing the idea of something having the power or worth to help in a situation.
Analysis
a: Latin prefix 'ad-', meaning 'to, towards'. In English, it often appears assimilated as 'a-', 'ac-', 'af-', etc. vail: From Latin 'valere', meaning 'to be strong, be worth, have power'. This root appears in English words like 'value', 'valid', and 'valiant'.