forgo

English

Alternative forms

• forego (proscribed)

Etymology

From Middle English forgon (“to go by, pass up”), from Old English forgān (“to go away, forgo”); equivalent to for- +‎ go.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /fɔːˈɡəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɔɹˈɡoʊ/
• Rhymes: (UK) -əʊ, (General American) -oʊ

Verb

forgo (third-person singular simple present forgoes, present participle forgoing, simple past forwent, past participle forgone) (transitive)

1. To let pass, to leave alone, to let go.
2. To do without, to abandon, to renounce.
   • 1960 February, “Talking of Trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 67:

     Mr. Hoyle, who does not believe many multiple-unit diesel services on secondary routes will resist for ever the road transport challenge, would forgo passenger traffic altogether on a little-used route in order to improve the quality of the freight working and reduce its costs by equating the average speed of all trains on the line concerned.

   • 1986, New York Magazine, volume 19, number 49, page 20:

     You might think that Americans buy roughly the same number of fitted sheets as flats. Or, considering the market for electric blankets, duvets, and other covers, that consumers buy even more bottom sheets, simply forgoing the tops.

3. To refrain from, to abstain from, to pass up, to withgo.

   I wouldn't forgo something, unless I'm convinced that it's detrimental in some way or another.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with forego (“go before”), though forego (“do without”) is also sometimes used as an alternative spelling of forgo.

Quotations

• 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 13:

  […] Doe not for one repulſe forgoe the purpoſe / That you resolu'd t' effect.

Translations

References

• “forgo”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “forgo”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• go for