. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology 1
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
Prefix
for-
( no longer productive ) Forth : prefixed to verbs to indicate a direction of 'away', 'off', 'forth'.
for steal is to steal away, for loppin is being a runaway, for ban is to exile, for drive is to drive away, for take is to take away, for throw is to throw off, for shake is to shake off, for how is to cast off
( no longer productive ) Exhausting : prefixed to verbs with the sense of wearing or exhausting one's self.
for sing is to sing to exhaustion, for wander is to wander until weary, for travel is to tire by travelling
( no longer productive ) Destructively : prefixed to verbs with the sense of destruction or pain.
for hang is to hang to death, for think is to cause distress or regret to, for do is to kill
( no longer productive ) Wrongly : prefixed to verbs with the sense of wrongly, amorally.
for teach is to misteach, for swear is to commit perjury, for worship is to worship wrongly, for lead is to mislead, for live is to live pervertedly
( no longer productive ) Neglectfully : prefixed to verbs with the sense of abstaining from or neglecting.
for slip is to allow someone or something to escape by letting them slip by; for slug is to lose, neglect, or destroy by sluggishness; for slack is to lose or spoil by slackness
( no longer productive ) Very : intensifying adjectives.
for black is extremely black, for swollen is excessively swollen
( no longer productive ) Making : prefixed to verbs to indicate the subject takes the character of the verb.
for dote is to make foolish or doting, for guilt is to bring into a state of guilt
( no longer productive ) Excessively : prefixed to verbs with the sense of doing so in excessive or overwhelm.
for wax is to grow to excess, for grow is to grow to excess, for hare is to affright or harry exceedingly
( no longer productive ) Excluding : prefixed to verbs to give the sense of prohibition or exclusion.
for judge is to exclude by a judgment, for shut is to shut off or out, for bar is to exclude
( no longer productive ) Intensively
for beat is to beat, for dread is to be in dread of, for lay is to lie in wait for
( no longer productive ) Thoroughly : prefixed to verbs with the sense of thoroughly, all over.
for grow is to become grown over or become covered with growth, for bathe is to bathe abundantly or thoroughly, for seek is to seek thoroughly, for wrap is to wrap up
Derived terms
References
“for- ”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press , launched 2000.
Etymology 2
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."
Prefix
for-
Alternative form of fore- .
for stand is to stand in front of so as to bar the way, for dede is a deed done for another, for lead is alternative form of forelead (“lead forward, lead before”)
Etymology 3
"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."
Prefix
for-
( rare ) Outside, out.
fore close is to shut out, for prise is an exception or reservation, for feit is that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed
References
See also
Anagrams
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse for- , from Proto-Germanic *fra- .
Prefix
for-
Makes verbs from adjectives meaning "to cause to be ".
for- + skøn ( “ beautiful ” ) + -e ( infinitive suffix ) → forskønne ( “ beautify ” )
for- + sød ( “ sweet ” ) + -e → forsøde ( “ sweeten ” )
for- + uren ( “ unclean ” ) + -e → forurene ( “ pollute ” )
Denotes initial or preparatory action; pre- .
for- + bore ( “ drill ” ) → forbore ( “ drill a hole for screwing ” )
for- + arbejde ( “ work ” ) → forarbejde ( “ preparatory work ” )
Usage notes
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
Further reading
Esperanto
Etymology
See for .
Pronunciation
Prefix
for-
Movement to a distance.
for- + pafi ( “ to shoot ” ) → forpafi ( “ to frighten off ” )
for- + veturi ( “ to drive ” ) → forveturi ( “ to drive away ” )
Disappearance or annihilation .
for- + akrigi ( “ to sharpen ” ) → forakrigi ( “ to file down ” )
for- + leki ( “ to lick ” ) → forleki ( “ to lick off ” )
Derived terms
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French , 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
Prefix
for-
( nonproductive ) prefix used to express error, exclusion, or inadequacy
Icelandic
Etymology
From Old Norse for- , from Proto-Germanic *fra- .
Prefix
for-
previous , before , first , pre-
Synonym: fyrir-
for- + síða ( “ page ” ) → forsíða ( “ front page ” )
( emphatic ) extremely
negative meaning
Derived terms
Irish
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *uɸor- .
Prefix
for-
over , superior , super-
outer , external
great , extreme
Derived terms
Mutation
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
Middle English
Etymology
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
Prefix
for-
Forms verbs meaning "far", "out" or with an intensive sense ; for- .
Forms verbs denoting a failure or error ; for- .
( no longer productive ) Forms nouns with varying sense .
Derived terms
Descendants
References
“for-, pref.(1). ”, in MED Online , Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan , 2007 .
“for-, pref.(2). ”, in MED Online , Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan , 2007 .
Norwegian Bokmål
Prefix
for-
previous , before , first , pre-
for- + side ( “ page ” ) → for side ( “ front page” )
( emphatic ) extremely
negative meaning
Synonyms
Derived terms
Old English
Etymology
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
Prefix
for-
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
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
forweoren ― decayed, decrepit
very
forlȳtel ― very little
foreald ― very old
Usage notes
This prefix was almost always unstressed, in both nouns and verbs.
Derived terms
Descendants
Old Irish
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *uɸor- . Prefix form of for .
Prefix
for-
over-
Derived terms
Old Saxon
Prefix
for-
alternative form of far-