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forsooth. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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forsooth in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English forsothe, forsoþe, for sothe, from Old English for sōþ (“truly, for certain, forsooth”), equivalent to for (“for, by”) + sooth (“truth”).
Pronunciation
Adverb
forsooth (not comparable)
- (archaic or poetic) Used as an intensifier, often ironic: indeed, really, truthfully.
- Synonyms: in point of fact, in truth, to tell the truth; see also Thesaurus:actually
a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: for Iohn Partridge, , published 1630, →OCLC:A fit man, forsooth, to governe a realme!
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. (First Quarto), London: N O for Thomas Walkley, , published 1622, →OCLC, , page 1:[F]or certes, ſayes he, / I haue already choſen my officer, and what was he? / Forſooth, a great Arithmeticion, [...]
1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “My Pedigree and Family.—Undergo the Influence of the Tender Passion.”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1856, →OCLC:‘Saint forsooth!’ said ill-natured Mrs. Brady.
1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 596:The four boys pumped up their hate to hissing steam. Harmless, quotha. Innocent, forsooth.
1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:Her eyes widened. She squeaked a bit. "Don't tell me she caught you bending again?" "Bending is right. I was half-way under the dressing-table. You and your singing," I said, and I'm not sure I didn't add the word "Forsooth!" Her eyes widened a bit further, and she squeaked another squeak.
Translations
indeed, truthfully, really
Further reading
- “forsọ̄th, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Forsooth”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes IV (F–G), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 470, column 3.