Emily Dickinson Lexicon

A-VAIL', v.t. [Fr. valoir, to be worth; L. valeo, to be strong or able, to profit, to be of force or authority; Sp. valer, to be valuable, to avail or prevail, to be binding, to be worth; It. valere, to be worth, to be useful; Eng. well; Ar. بَلَّ balla. The primary sense is, to stretch or extend, whence strength, value.]

1. To profit one's self; to turn to advantage; followed by the pronouns, myself, thyself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, with of before the thing used; as, let him avail himself of his license.
2. To assist or profit; to effect the object, or bring to a successful issue; as, what will skill avail us against numbers? Artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.