fore

English

Etymology

A development of the prefix fore-.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɔɹ/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /fo(ː)ɹ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /foə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• Homophones: four, for (in accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Adjective

fore (comparative former, superlative foremost)

1. (obsolete) Former; occurring earlier (in some order); previous.

   the fore part of the day

2. Forward; situated towards the front (of something).
   • 1921, The Photographic Journal, page 8:

     The fore end of the tape is drawn out, and when the indicator points to this number the end is firmly fixed to the front of the camera.

   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 23:

     Crystal vases with crimson roses and golden-brown asters were set here and there in the fore part of the shop […]

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "order"): latter
• (antonym(s) of "location"): aft

Translations

Interjection

fore

1. (golf) An exclamation yelled to inform players a ball is moving in their direction.

Translations

Noun

fore (uncountable)

1. The front; the forward part of something; the foreground.
   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:

     The waiting-room was now less empty than Watt had at first supposed, to judge by the presence, some two paces to Watt's fore, and as many to his right, of what seemed to be an object of some importance.

   • 2002, Mark Bevir, The Logic of the History of Ideas:

     People face a dilemma whenever they bring to the fore an understanding that appears inadequate in the light of the other beliefs they bring to bear on it.

Translations

Adverb

fore (not comparable)

1. In the part that precedes or goes first; opposed to aft, after, back, behind, etc.
2. (obsolete) Formerly; previously; afore.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 7”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. , London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

     The eyes, fore duteous, now converted are.

3. (nautical) In or towards the bows of a ship.

   Antonym: aft

Derived terms

Anagrams

• Fero, Freo, OFer, froe, o-fer, ofer, orfe

Cornish

Noun

fore

1. Mixed mutation of bore.

Esperanto

Etymology

for +‎ -e

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ore
• Hyphenation: fo‧re

Adverb

fore

1. far away

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

fore

1. inflection of forer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Ido

Etymology

for +‎ -e

Adverb

fore

1. (far) away, afar

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.re/
• Rhymes: -ɔre
• Hyphenation: fò‧re

Preposition

fore

1. (archaic, literary) Alternative form of fuori
   1. out, outside, outwards (towards the outside)
      • late 13^th century, Guido Guinizelli, Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore [Love always dwells in the noble heart]‎, lines 11–12, 15–17; republished in Gianfranco Contini, editor, Poeti italiani del Duecento, volume 2, Milan, Naples: Riccardo Ricciardi, 1960:

        Foco d’amore in gentil cor s’aprende
        come vertute in petra prezïosa,
        […]
        poi che n’ha tratto fòre
        per sua forza lo sol ciò che li è vile,
        stella li dà valore

        The flame of love seizes the noble heart like virtue a gem, after the Sun has brought out of it, through its might, what of it is lowly; a star gives it value

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfo.re/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfo.re/,

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

fore

1. ablative singular of foris

Etymology 2

Formally present active infinitive corresponding to fuī (“I have been”), irregular perfect indicative of sum (“I am”). From Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become, be”), cognate with Old English bēo (“I become, I will be, I am”). In classical Latin, the fu- forms of sum are mostly limited to the perfect tenses, but old Latin has alternate present and imperfect subjunctive forms fuam and forem (for classical sim and essem) suggesting the root could once be fully conjugated. After being incorporated in the conjugation of sum, the meaning of fore shifted from the original "to become" to the classical "to be going to be".

Alternative forms

• futūrus esse

Verb

fore

1. future active infinitive of sum

Usage notes

• Also used in the construction fore ut in place of a future passive infinitive in indirect discourse:

  Crēdō fore ut ea laudētur.

  I believe it would be that she will be praised.

  (literally, “I believe it to be going to be that she is praised.”)

References

• “fore”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fore”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fore in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• fore in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Noun

fore

1. fore

Descendants

• Scots: fore
• English: fore

Numeral

fore

1. four

Conjunction

fore

1. therefore

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• fóre

Noun

fore f (definite singular fora, indefinite plural forer, definite plural forene)

1. behaviour
2. footprints, tracks
3. (economics) ability, standing

Etymology 2

Derived from for (“travel”), from Old Norse fǫr, but made a weak noun. From earlier Proto-Germanic *farō.

Alternative forms

• fòre

Noun

fore f (definite singular fora, indefinite plural forer, definite plural forene)

1. alternative form of for

Etymology 3

From fòr (“furrow”).

Alternative forms

• fora, fòra, fòre

Verb

fore (present tense forar, past tense fora, past participle fora, passive infinitive forast, present participle forande, imperative fore/for)

1. to furrow

Etymology 4

Inherited from Old Norse fóðra.

Alternative forms

• fora, fôra, fôre

Verb

fore (present tense forar, past tense fora, past participle fora, passive infinitive forast, present participle forande, imperative fore/for)

1. to fodder animals
   1. to breed, raise
2. to gather food, fodder
3. to feed

Related terms

• fôr n (“fodder”)

Etymology 5

Made from fôr (“lining of clothes”)

Alternative forms

• fora, fôra, fôre

Verb

fore (present tense forar, past tense fora, past participle fora, passive infinitive forast, present participle forande, imperative fore/for)

1. (transitive) to line (clothes)
2. (transitive) to clad with covering layers

Etymology 6

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

fore

1. inflection of for:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

References

• “fore” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Verb

fore

1. (dated) past subjunctive of fara

Anagrams

• efor

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔrɛ/
  • (North Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔra/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈvoːrɛ/, /ˈvɔrɛ/

Noun

fore

1. Soft mutation of bore (“morning”).

Mutation