vouch

verb

1. (transitive)To call on (someone) to be a witness to something.

   “Nor need I ſpeak my Deeds, for thoſe you ſee, The Sun and Day are Witneſſes for me. Let him who fights unſeen, relate his own, And vouch the ſilent Stars, and conſcious Moon.”

2. (transitive)To cite or rely on (an authority, a written work, etc.) in support of one's actions or opinions.

   “But the most catholike and renoumed doctours of Christes religion in the corroboration of their argumentes and sentences, do alledge the same histories and vouche (as I mought say) to their ayde the autoritie of the writars.”

   “[F]or more credit to vvhich aſſertion hee vouched ſundry books, and acts, […]”

   “Pray tell us where your moderate (for great ones you acknowledg to do harm, and to be uſeleſs) Penalties have been uſed, with ſuch Succeſs, that we may be paſt doubt too. If you can ſhew no ſuch place, do you not vouch Experience where you have none?”

3. (transitive)To affirm or warrant the correctness or truth of (something); also, to affirm or warrant (the truth of an assertion or statement).

   “Nay tis moſt credible, we heere receiue it, A certaintie vouch'd from our Coſin Auſtria, […]”

   “Deliuer them this Paper: hauing read it, Bid them repayre to th' Market place, where I Euen in theirs, and in the Commons eares Will vouch the truth of it.”

   “[T]hey have made him aſham'd firſt to Vouch the Truth of the Relation, and afterwards even to Credit it.”

   “Hold it fast and guard it well! Go and see and vouch for certain, then come back and never tell Living soul but us; and haply, prove our sky from cloud as clear, There may we four meet, praise fortune just as now, another year!”

4. (transitive)To bear witness or testify to the nature or qualities (of someone or something).

   “If a Man ſucceeds in any Attempt, though undertook with never ſo much Folly and Raſhneſs, his Succeſs ſhall vouch him a Politician; and good Luck ſhall paſs for deep Contrivance: […]”

5. (transitive)To back, confirm, or support (someone or something) with credible evidence or proof.

   “[M]ee damp horror chil'd At ſuch bold words voucht with a deed ſo bold: […]”

6. (archaic, transitive)Synonym of vouchsafe (“to condescendingly or graciously give or grant (something)”).

   “Our Maſter Mars Haſt vouch'd his Oracle, and to Arcite gave The grace of the Contention: So the Deities Have ſhewd due juſtice: […]”

7. (archaic, obsolete, transitive)To assert, aver, or declare (something).

   “But wherein then according to their Opinion did this Image of God conſiſt? Why, in that Power and Dominion that God gave Adam over the Creatures: In that he was vouched his immediate Deputy upon Earth, the Viceroy of the Creation, and Lord-Lieutenant of the World.”

   “[W]hat we have done None shall dare vouch, tho' it be truly known; […]”

8. (transitive)In full vouch to warrant or vouch to warranty: to summon (someone) into court to establish a warranty of title to land.

   “[W]hen the Tenant being impleaded within a particular iuriſdiction (as in London or the like) voucheth one to warranty and prayes that he may be ſummoned in ſome other county out of the iuriſdiction of that Court: this is called a foreine Voucher, […]”

   “If Edwards therefore be tenant of the freehold in poſſeſſion, and John Barker be tenant in tail in remainder, here Edwards doth firſt vouch Barker, and then Barker vouches Jacob Morland the common vouchee; […]”

9. (transitive)Followed by over: of a vouchee (a person summoned to court to establish a warranty of title): to summon (someone) to court in their place.

   “[I]t is now uſual always to have a recovery with double voucher at the leaſt; by firſt conveying an eſtate of freehold to any indifferent perſon, againſt whom the praecipe is brought; and then he vouches the tenant in tail, who vouches over the common vouchee.”

10. (obsolete, transitive)To guarantee legal title (to something).

    “[W]ill vouchers vouch him no more of his purchaſes & doubles then the length and breadth of a payre of Indentures?”

    “If one ignorantly buyeth ſtolen Cattel, and hath them fairly vouched unto him, and publickly in an open Fair payeth Tole for them, he cannot be damnified thereby: […]”

11. (intransitive)Often followed by for.

    “I can vouch that he wasn’t at the scene of the crime.”

    “What can you vouch againſt him, Signior Lucio? Is this the man that you did tell vs of?”

    “I therefore vouch againe, That with ſome mixtures povverfull ore the blood, Or vvith ſome dram coniur'd to this effect, He vvrought vpon her.”

    “I am not worthie of the wealth I owe, Nor dare I ſay 'tis mine: and yet it is, But like a timorous theefe, moſt faine would ſteale What law does vouch mine owne.”

    “Here he directly charges her majesty with delivering a falsehood to her parliament from the throne; and declares he will not believe her, until the elector of Hanover himself shall vouch for the truth of what she has so solemnly affirmed.”

12. (intransitive)Often followed by for.
13. (intransitive)Often followed by for.

    “Lives still such maid?—Fair damsels say, For further vouches not my lay, Save that such lived in Britain's isle, Where Lorn's bright Edith scorn'd to smile.”

    “The tears that suffused my sister's eyes when I mentioned our friend, and her heightened colour seemed to vouch for the truth of the reports that had reached me.”

noun

1. (archaic, obsolete)An assertion, a declaration; also, a formal attestation or warrant of the correctness or truth of something.

   “VVho will beleeue thee Iſabell? My vnſoild name, th' auſteereneſſe of my life, My vouch againſt you, and my place i'th State, VVill ſo your accuſation ouer-vveigh, That you ſhall ſtifle in your ovvne report, And ſmell of calumnie.”