forsooth

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English forsothe, forsoþe, for sothe, from Old English for sōþ (“truly, for certain, forsooth”), equivalent to for (“for, by”) +‎ sooth (“truth”).

Pronunciation edit

(General American), IPA^(key): /fɔɹˈsuθ/, enPR: fôr-sōōth′
- Audio (Southern England) (file)
Rhymes: -uːθ

Adverb edit

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: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] 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[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], 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 edit

indeed, truthfully, really

Bulgarian: наистина (bg) (naistina)
Czech: věru (cs), vskutku (cs), namouduši
Dutch: voorwaar (nl) (archaic) waarlijk (nl) (archaic)
German: fürwahr (de)
Ido: vere (io), certe (io), ya (io)
Italian: in verità, davvero (it), seriamente (it)
Polish: zaiste (pl)
Russian: поистине (ru) (poistine)
Spanish: veramente (es) m, en verdad m, de vero m
Swedish: minsann (sv)
Turkish: hakikaten (tr)