Wiktionary

for-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "for"

English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English for-, vor-, ver-, from Old English for-, fer-, fær-, fyr- (“far, away, completely”, prefix), from the merger of Proto-Germanic *fra- ("away, away from"; see fro, from) and Proto-Germanic *fur-, *far- (“through, completely, fully”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-, *per-, *pr-. Cognate with Scots for-, West Frisian fer-, for-, Dutch ver-, German ver-, Swedish för-, Danish for-, Norwegian for-, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰- (fra-), Latin pro-. More at for.

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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for-

  2. (no longer productive) Forth: prefixed to verbs to indicate a direction of 'away', 'off', 'forth'.
    forsteal is to steal away, forloppin is being a runaway, forban is to exile, fordrive is to drive away, fortake is to take away, forthrow is to throw off, forshake is to shake off, forhow is to cast off
  4. (no longer productive) Exhausting: prefixed to verbs with the sense of wearing or exhausting one's self.
    forsing is to sing to exhaustion, forwander is to wander until weary, fortravel is to tire by travelling
  6. (no longer productive) Destructively: prefixed to verbs with the sense of destruction or pain.
    forhang is to hang to death, forthink is to cause distress or regret to, fordo is to kill
  8. (no longer productive) Wrongly: prefixed to verbs with the sense of wrongly, amorally.
    forteach is to misteach, forswear is to commit perjury, forworship is to worship wrongly, forlead is to mislead, forlive is to live pervertedly
  10. (no longer productive) Neglectfully: prefixed to verbs with the sense of abstaining from or neglecting.
    forslip is to allow someone or something to escape by letting them slip by; forslug is to lose, neglect, or destroy by sluggishness; forslack is to lose or spoil by slackness
  12. (no longer productive) Very: intensifying adjectives.
    forblack is extremely black, forswollen is excessively swollen
  14. (no longer productive) Making: prefixed to verbs to indicate the subject takes the character of the verb.
    fordote is to make foolish or doting, forguilt is to bring into a state of guilt
  16. (no longer productive) Excessively: prefixed to verbs with the sense of doing so in excessive or overwhelm.
    forwax is to grow to excess, forgrow is to grow to excess, forhare is to affright or harry exceedingly
  18. (no longer productive) Excluding: prefixed to verbs to give the sense of prohibition or exclusion.
    forjudge is to exclude by a judgment, forshut is to shut off or out, forbar is to exclude
  20. (no longer productive) Intensively
    forbeat is to beat, fordread is to be in dread of, forlay is to lie in wait for
  22. (no longer productive) Thoroughly: prefixed to verbs with the sense of thoroughly, all over.
    forgrow is to become grown over or become covered with growth, forbathe is to bathe abundantly or thoroughly, forseek is to seek thoroughly, forwrap is to wrap up
Derived terms
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English terms prefixed with for-
terms derived from forth
terms derived from exhausting
terms derived from wrongly
terms derived from destructively
terms derived from neglectfully
terms derived from very
terms derived from making
terms derived from excessively
terms derived from excluding
terms derived from intensively
terms derived from thoroughly

References

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“for-”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Etymology 2

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From Old English for-, which is identical with the preposition "for". In "Old English and Middle English it occurs frequently as a variant of fore- prefix, with the senses ‘before’, ‘in front’, ‘on behalf of’, etc.; cf. Old English for-, forecuman to come before, Middle English forganger and foreganger n."[1]

Prefix

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for-

  2. Alternative form of fore-.
    forstand is to stand in front of so as to bar the way, fordede is a deed done for another, forlead is alternative form of forelead (“lead forward, lead before”)

Etymology 3

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"Occurring only in words adopted from French, as forcatch v., forfeit n., forprise n., represents Old French for-, fors-, identical with fors adv. (modern French hors) outside, out."[2]

Alternative forms

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Prefix

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for-

  2. (rare) Outside, out.
    foreclose is to shut out, forprise is an exception or reservation,[2] forfeit is that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed

References

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  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “for- (prefix2),” March 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1183476270.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “for- (prefix3),” September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/8923913950.

See also

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Anagrams

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Danish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse for-, from Proto-Germanic *fra-.

Prefix

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for-

  1. Makes verbs from adjectives meaning "to cause to be [adjective]".
    ‎for- + ‎skøn (“beautiful”) + ‎-e (infinitive suffix) → ‎forskønne (“beautify”)
    ‎for- + ‎sød (“sweet”) + ‎-e → ‎forsøde (“sweeten”)
    ‎for- + ‎uren (“unclean”) + ‎-e → ‎forurene (“pollute”)
  2. Denotes initial or preparatory action; pre-.
    ‎for- + ‎bore (“drill”) → ‎forbore (“drill a hole for screwing”)
    ‎for- + ‎arbejde (“work”) → ‎forarbejde (“preparatory work”)

Usage notes

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This element appears in a great number of adapted loanwords from German, Low German and Dutch, to render ver- or vor-, such as in fordærve (“to decay, to rot”). In these cases, it may represent senses that are no longer, or never were, productive in Danish.

Derived terms

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Danish terms prefixed with for-

Further reading

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Esperanto

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Etymology

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See for.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [for]
  • Hyphenation: for

Prefix

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for-

  1. Movement to a distance.
    ‎for- + ‎pafi (“to shoot”) → ‎forpafi (“to frighten off”)
    ‎for- + ‎veturi (“to drive”) → ‎forveturi (“to drive away”)
  2. Disappearance or annihilation.
    ‎for- + ‎akrigi (“to sharpen”) → ‎forakrigi (“to file down”)
    ‎for- + ‎leki (“to lick”) → ‎forleki (“to lick off”)

Derived terms

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Esperanto terms prefixed with for-

French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French [Term?], from Old French for-, partially from Late Latin forīs, taken as an adaptation of the adverb forīs (“outdoors, outside”) and used to calque Frankish words prefixed by *fur- (“for-”) (compare Late Latin foris faciō (“to do wrong”) = Old High German firwirken (“to do wrong”), forisfactus (“evil deed”) = Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐍃 (frawaurhts, “evil deed”), foris coⁿsilio (“to mislead”) = Old High German firleitan (“to mislead”), etc.), and partially continuing from Proto-Germanic *fur-, *fer-, *fra- (“away, from, off”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-, *per-, *pr-. See for-. Related to French fors (“except”), French hors (“outside”).

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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for-

  1. (nonproductive) prefix used to express error, exclusion, or inadequacy
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Icelandic

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Etymology

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From Old Norse for-, from Proto-Germanic *fra-.

Prefix

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for-

  1. previous, before, first, pre-
    Synonym: fyrir-
    ‎for- + ‎síða (“page”) → ‎forsíða (“front page”)
  2. (emphatic) extremely
  3. negative meaning

Derived terms

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Icelandic terms prefixed with for-
Terms derived from for- meaning “before”
Terms derived from for- used emphatically
Terms derived from for- used to imbue a negative meaning

Irish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Celtic *uɸor-.

Prefix

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for-

  1. over, superior, super-
  2. outer, external
  3. great, extreme

Derived terms

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Irish terms prefixed with for-

Mutation

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Mutated forms of for-
radical lenition eclipsis
for- fhor- bhfor-

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English for-, from Proto-West Germanic *fra-, from Proto-Germanic *fra-, from Proto-Indo-European *pro-.

The Old English prefix was reinforced by Proto-West Germanic *furi-, from Proto-Germanic *furi-; In Middle English, this prefix is further reinforced by Old French for-, from Latin foris.

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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for-

  1. Forms verbs meaning "far", "out" or with an intensive sense; for-.
  2. Forms verbs denoting a failure or error; for-.
  3. (no longer productive) Forms nouns with varying sense.

Derived terms

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Middle English terms prefixed with for-

Descendants

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  • English: for-
  • Scots: for-

References

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Prefix

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for-

  1. previous, before, first, pre-
    ‎for- + ‎side (“page”) → ‎forside (“front page”)
  2. (emphatic) extremely
  3. negative meaning

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Norwegian Bokmål terms prefixed with for-
Terms derived from for- meaning “before”
Terms derived from for- used emphatically
Terms derived from for- used to imbue a negative meaning

Old English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *fra-.

Cognates
Cognate with Old Frisian for-, Old Saxon far-, for-, Dutch ver-, Old High German fir-, far- (German ver-), and, outside Germanic, with Ancient Greek περί (perí), Latin per-, Old Church Slavonic пре- (pre-) (Russian пе́ре- (pére-)).

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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for-

  1. wrongly, away from, astray, abstention, prohibition, perversion, destruction (verbal prefix)
    forwyrċan ― to do wrong, sin
    forstandan ― to defend, protect, stand for
    forweorpan ― to throw away, cast away, reject
    forstelan ― to steal away, deprive
    fordēman ― to condemn
    forlǣdan ― to mislead; seduce
  2. used to create intensified adjectives and verbs from other adjectives and verbs, with the sense of completely or fully; compare Modern English use of up
    forblāwan ― to blow up, inflate
    forbrecan ― to break up, break into pieces
    forstoppian ― to stop up, block, occlude
    forworen ― decayed, decrepit
  3. very
    forlȳtel ― very little
    foreald ― very old

Usage notes

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  • This prefix was almost always unstressed, in both nouns and verbs.

Derived terms

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Old English terms prefixed with for-

Descendants

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Old Irish

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Etymology

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From Proto-Celtic *uɸor-. Prefix form of for.

Prefix

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for-

  1. over-

Derived terms

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Old Irish terms prefixed with for-

Old Saxon

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Prefix

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for-

  1. Alternative form of far-
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