for-
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
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 edit
Prefix edit
for-
- (no longer productive) Forth: prefixed to verbs to indicate a direction of 'away', 'off', 'forth'.
- (no longer productive) Exhausting: prefixed to verbs with the sense of wearing or exhausting one's self.
- (no longer productive) Destructively: prefixed to verbs with the sense of destruction or pain.
- (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
- (no longer productive) Neglectfully: prefixed to verbs with the sense of abstaining from or neglecting.
- (no longer productive) Very: intensifying adjectives.
- forblack is extremely black, forswollen is excessively swollen
- (no longer productive) Making: prefixed to verbs to indicate the subject takes the character of the verb.
- (no longer productive) Excessively: prefixed to verbs with the sense of doing so in excessive or overwhelm.
- (no longer productive) Excluding: prefixed to verbs to give the sense of prohibition or exclusion.
- (no longer productive) Intensively
- (no longer productive) Thoroughly: prefixed to verbs with the sense of thoroughly, all over.
Derived terms edit
References edit
“for-”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Etymology 2 edit
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."[1]
Prefix edit
for-
- Alternative form of fore-.
Etymology 3 edit
"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."[2]
Alternative forms edit
Prefix edit
for-
- (rare) Outside, out.
References edit
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “for- (prefix2),” March 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1183476270.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “for- (prefix3),” September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/8923913950.
See also edit
Anagrams edit
Danish edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse for-, from Proto-Germanic *fra-.
Prefix edit
for-
- Makes verbs from adjectives meaning "to cause to be [adjective]".
- Denotes initial or preparatory action; pre-.
- for- + bore (“drill”) → forbore (“drill a hole for screwing”)
- for- + arbejde (“work”) → forarbejde (“preparatory work”)
Usage notes edit
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 edit
Further reading edit
- “for-” in Den Danske Ordbog
Esperanto edit
Etymology edit
See for.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
for-
- Movement to a distance.
- Disappearance or annihilation.
Derived terms edit
French edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French [Term?], 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 edit
Prefix edit
for-
- (nonproductive) prefix used to express error, exclusion, or inadequacy
Related terms edit
Icelandic edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse for-, from Proto-Germanic *fra-.
Prefix edit
for-
Synonyms edit
- (before): fyrir-
Derived terms edit
Irish edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Celtic *uɸor-.
Prefix edit
for-
Derived terms edit
Mutation edit
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
for- | fhor- | bhfor- |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Further reading edit
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “for-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Prefix edit
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 edit
Descendants edit
References edit
- “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 edit
Prefix edit
for-
Synonyms edit
- (before): fore-
Derived terms edit
Old English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-West Germanic *fra-.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
for-
- 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
- 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
- very
- forlȳtel ― very little
Usage notes edit
- This prefix was almost always unstressed, in both nouns and verbs.
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Old Irish edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Celtic *uɸor-. Prefix form of for.
Prefix edit
for-
Derived terms edit
Old Saxon edit
Prefix edit
for-
- Alternative form of far-