Allege, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Alleged; p. pr. & vb. n. Alleging.]
Etymology: [OE. aleggen to bring forward as evidence, OF. esligier to buy, prop. to free from legal difficulties, fr. an assumed LL. exlitigare; L. ex + litigare to quarrel, sue (see Litigate). The word was confused with L. allegare (see Allegation), and lex law. Cf. Allay.]
1. To bring forward with positiveness; to declare; to affirm; to assert; as, to allege a fact.
2. To cite or quote; as, to allege the authority of a judge. [Archaic]
3. To produce or urge as a reason, plea, or excuse; as, he refused to lend, alleging a resolution against lending.
Syn. -- To bring forward; adduce; advance; assign; produce; declare; affirm; assert; aver; predicate.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Allege, v. t.
To alleviate; to lighten, as a burden or a trouble. [Obs.] Wyclif.
Shades of meaning
To allege is formally to state as true or capable of proof, but without proving. To adduce, literally to lead to, is to bring the evidence up to what has been alleged. Adduce is a secondary word; nothing can be adduced in evidence till something has been stated or alleged, which the evidence is to sustain. An alleged fact stands open to question or doubt. To speak of an alleged document, an alleged will, an alleged crime, is either to question, or at least very carefully to refrain from admitting, that the document exists, that the will is genuine, or that the crime has been committed. Alleged is, however, respectful; to speak of the "so-called" will or deed, etc., would be to cast discredit upon the document, and imply that the speaker was ready to brand it as unquestionably spurious; alleged simply concedes nothing and leaves the question open. To produce is to bring forward, as, for instance, papers or persons. Adduce is not used of persons; of them we say introduce or produce. When an alleged criminal is brought to trial, the counsel on either side are accustomed to advance a theory, and adduce the strongest possible evidence in its support; they will produce documents and witnesses, cite precedents, assign reasons, introduce suggestions, offer pleas. The accused will usually assert his innocence. Compare state.