avail

/ə-ˈvāl/

Middle English, Anglo-French availler, probably from a- (from Latin ad-) + valer, valoir to be of worth, from Latin valēre

verb

  1. to be of use or advantage : serve

  2. to produce or result in as a benefit or advantage : gain

Our best efforts did not avail.

noun

  1. advantage toward attainment of a goal or purpose : use

Their effort was of little/no avail.

idiom

  1. of little use : not very helpful

What I learned then is of little avail to me now.