fore-
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English fore-, from Old English fore-, from Proto-West Germanic *forē-, from Proto-Germanic *fura-, *furai- (“before, in front of, for”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, formerly; through, throughout”).
Akin to Old Saxon and Old High German fora-, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰- (faura-) (see 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰 (faura)), Dutch voor- (“fore-”).
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɔː/
- (General American) IPA(key): /fɔɹ/
- (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /fo(ː)ɹ/
- (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /foə/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
- Homophones: four, for (in accents with the horse–hoarse merger)
Prefix edit
fore-
- Positioned at or near the front
- Before; ahead or in front of.
- Occurring beforehand; earlier; prior to
Usage notes edit
Some terms prefixed with for- (“far, very”) have alternative spellings beginning with fore-, though they do not derive from fore- (they do not mean “before”); examples include foreshame, foreslack, foreslow. Conversely, some terms prefixed with fore- have alternative spellings beginning with for-, such as forbear; the form with fore- is usually preferred to avoid ambiguity, with the conspicuous exception of forward/forwards. In some cases analogous words with both prefixes are found, as in forego (“go before”) vs. forgo (“do without”), forebear (“ancestor”) vs. forbear (“restrain oneself”), and forespeak (“speak before, foretell”) vs. forspeak (“speak ill of; curse; charm, bewitch”).[1] The prefixes might be distantly related (from Proto-Indo-European), but are distinct in English.
Synonyms edit
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Fore- or for-?, OxfordWords
Anagrams edit
Old English edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-West Germanic *forē-, from Proto-Germanic *furai-.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
fore-
- before, in front of, pro-
- fore- + cwide → forecwide (“introduction, heading; prophecy”)
- fore- + manian → foremanian (“to forewarn, admonish”)
- fore- + mǣrlīċ → foremǣrlīċ (“eminent, foreboding”)
- fore- + rīm → forerīm (“prologue”)
- fore- + cnēoris → forecnēoris (“progeny”)
- fore- + frēfrend → forefrēfrend (“proconsul”)
- fore- + costiġan → forecostigan (“to profane”)
- fore- + ġehāt → foreġehāt (“vow”)
- fore- + mearcung → foremearcung (“title, chapter”)
- first, prime, occupying a prominent position
- very, supremely, foremost
- fore- + maniġ → foremaniġ (“very many”)
- fore- + mihtiġ → foremihtiġ (“most mighty”)