eschew

Etymology

From Middle English eschewen, from Anglo-Norman eschiver, (third-person present eschiu), from Frankish *skiuhijan (“to dread, shun, avoid”); thus a doublet of skew. For the pronunciation with /ʃ/, compare the development of marshal from Middle English marschal (/marsˈt͡ʃaːl/) or Middle English myssheve, variant of myschef (“hardship”). Variants in /sk/ are either from unattested Middle English *eskewen (from Old Northern French eskiver; compare skew) or are spelling pronunciations. See also French esquiver.

verb

1. (transitive, formal) To avoid; to shun, to shy away from.
   And peraduenture my lady the quene sente for hym to that entente that syr Launcelot shold come to her good grace pryuely and secretely wenynge to her that hit was best so to do in eschewyng & dredyng of sklaunder "And peradventure my lady, the queen, sent for him to that intent that Sir Launcelot should come to her good grace privily and secretly, weening to her that it was best so to do, in eschewing and dreading of slander" 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XX, Chapter vii, leaf 404v
   He could afford no servants, and would admit but few visitors to his absolute solitude; eschewing close friendships and receiving his rare acquaintances in one of the three ground-floor rooms which he kept in order. 1927, H. P. Lovecraft, The Horror at Red Hook
   [S]he [Edwina, mother of Tennessee Williams] was indeed Amanda [Wingfield, character in Williams' play The Glass Menagerie] in the flesh: a doughty chatterbox from Ohio who adopted the manner of a Southern belle and eschewed both drink and sex to the greatest extent possible. 14 November 2014, Blake Bailey, “'Tennessee Williams,' by John Lahr [print version: Theatrical victory of art over life, International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 13]”, in The New York Times
   I eschew the idea of plugging in my laptop to take notes and resort to old-fashioned pen and paper instead, so that I can enjoy more of the view and not be distracted by bashing a keyboard. December 2 2020, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 65