for-

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English for-, vor-, 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

• (stressed) IPA^(key): /fɔː(ɹ)/
• (unstressed) IPA^(key): /fə(ɹ)/

Prefix

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

References

“for-”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: 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-

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

"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."

Alternative forms

• fore-

Prefix

for-

2. (rare) Outside, out.

   foreclose is to shut out, forprise is an exception or reservation, forfeit is that which is taken from somebody in requital of a misdeed committed

References

See also

• fore-

Anagrams

• 'fro, ORF, fro, orf

Danish

Etymology

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

Prefix

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

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

• “for-” in Den Danske Ordbog

Esperanto

Etymology

See for.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: for

Prefix

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

French

Alternative forms

• four-, fre-

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

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁ/

Prefix

for-

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

Related terms

Icelandic

Etymology

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

Prefix

for-

1. previous, before, first, pre-

   ‎for- + ‎síða (“page”) → ‎forsíða (“front page”)

2. (emphatic) extremely
3. negative meaning

Synonyms

• (before): fyrir-

Derived terms

Irish

Alternative forms

• ur-

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *uɸor-.

Prefix

for-

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

Derived terms

Mutation

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “for-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Middle English

Alternative forms

• far-, fer-, vor-

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

• IPA^(key): /fɔr-/

Prefix

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

Descendants

• English: for-
• Scots: for-

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-

1. previous, before, first, pre-

   ‎for- + ‎side (“page”) → ‎forside (“front page”)

2. (emphatic) extremely
3. negative meaning

Synonyms

• (before): fore-

Derived terms

Old English

Alternative forms

• fer-, fær-, fier-

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fra-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /for/

Prefix

for-

1. wrongly, away from, astray, abstention, prohibition, perversion, destruction (verbal prefix)

   forwyrcan ― 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

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle English: for-, far-, fer-, vor-
  • English: for-
  • Scots: for-

Old Irish

Etymology

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

Prefix

for-

1. over-

Derived terms

Old Saxon

Prefix

for-

1. Alternative form of far-