_Aver_ (Vol. iii., pp. 42. 157.).--Spelman, in his _Glossary_, derives
_averia_ from _averare_ pro laborare. _Averare_ he derives from the French
_ouvre_ and _ouvrage_, "vel potius a Latino _operare_, _o_ et _p_, ut
solent, in _a_ et _u_, conversis." "Hence," he says, "our ancestors called
beasts of burden _averia_, and the Scotch called them _avaria_." In
Northumberland, he elsewhere adds, "they call a lazy, sluggish horse 'a
faulse aver,' or 'afer.'"
_Averum_ signified goods and chattels, and personal property in general,
and, in this sense, is derived from the French _avoir_. It also signified
the royal treasure, as appears from the following extract front the will of
Philip Augustus, sub anno {292} 1190. After directing his rents, services,
and oblations to be brought annually to Paris, he adds--
"In receptionibus averi nostri, Adam clericus noster presens erit, et
eas scribet, et singuli habeant singulas claves de singulis archis in
quibus reponetur averum nostrum in templo."