forsake

      English

      Etymology

      From Middle English forsaken (“to reject, deny”), from Old English forsacan (“to dispute, quarrel, refuse, oppose”), from Proto-Germanic *farsakaną (“to renounce”), equivalent to for- +‎ sake. Akin to Dutch verzaken, Middle High German versachen (“to deny”), Danish forsage (“to give up”), Norwegian forsake (“to give up, renounce”), Swedish försaka (“to give up, to be without”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (sakan, “to rebuke, quarrel”)[1].

      Pronunciation

      Verb

      forsake (third-person singular simple present forsakes, present participle forsaking, simple past forsook, past participle forsaken)

      1. To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce.

      Translations

      to abandon

      References

      • forsake in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
      • Notes:
      1. ^ forsake in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
      ↑Jump back a section

      Norwegian Bokmål

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

      Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *farsakaną. Compare Danish forsage, Swedish försaka, English forsake, Dutch verzaken.

      Verb

      forsake (present tense forsaker; past tense and past participle forsaka or forsaket)

      1. give up, relinquish
      2. denounce (the devil)

      Derived terms

      ↑Jump back a section
      Last modified on 22 May 2013, at 20:33