Meaning

noun the money risked on a gamble

noun the act of gambling

verb maintain with or as if with a bet

originFrom 16th-century criminal slang, perhaps from Middle English bet (“something better, advantage, luck”), from Old English bet, bett (“better”, adverb); or, alternatively from abet, from Middle English abet, abette, from Old French abet (“incitement to evil”), from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”); ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *baitijan…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0