eschever

Eschever is a rarely attested English verb that appears in a small number of early modern texts. It is not part of standard contemporary English, and most modern dictionaries do not list it as a distinct lemma. In the historical record, eschever is generally regarded as an obsolete or dialectal form that may have functioned as a variant of the more common verb eschew or as a form influenced by Old French eschever/escheir, meaning to fall to or befall, with a sense related to avoidance or renunciation in some contexts. Because of the limited attestations, the exact sense is uncertain and varies by text.

Its precise etymology is unclear. Some scholars have proposed a link to escheat-related vocabulary, but there is no consensus. The form is most often encountered in scholarly editions, glossaries, or texts focusing on language history rather than as everyday usage. Where it does appear, eschever tends to reflect older spelling conventions rather than representing a stable, widely used meaning.

In modern usage, eschever has largely fallen into obscurity, and readers should rely on eschew for the present-day sense of deliberately avoiding something. The word may nonetheless be of interest in lexicographical or philological studies as an example of historical variation in English verb formation.