allege

****************************************************************
Put the whole realm of human knowledge on Dad's desktop
with Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia. 
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?collency.htm&9
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for June 13 is: 

allege   \uh-LEJ\   verb
    *1 : to assert without proof or before proving 
     2 : to bring forward as a reason or excuse 

Example sentence:
     Several employees alleged that the company had engaged in discriminatory 
practices, and claimed to have evidence to support their allegations.

Did you know?
     These days, someone "alleges" something before presenting the evidence to 
prove it (or perhaps without evidence at all), but the word actually derives 
from the Middle English verb "alleggen," meaning "to submit (something) in 
evidence or as justification." "Alleggen," in turn, traces back to Anglo-French 
and probably ultimately to Latin "allegare," meaning "to send as a 
representative" or "to offer as proof in support of a plea." Indeed, "allege" 
once referred to the actions of someone who came forward to testify in court; 
this sense isn't used anymore, but it led to the development of the current 
"assert without proof" sense.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.