for-
English
Etymology
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-, Latin per-. More at for.
Pronunciation
- (stressed) IPA(key): /fɔː(ɹ)/
- (unstressed) IPA(key): /fə(ɹ)/
Prefix
for-
- (no longer productive) Meaning "far", "away"; "from", "out" e.g. forbid, forget, forsay; forbear, fordeem.
- (no longer productive) Meaning "completely", "to the fullest extent" e.g. forbreak; superseded by combinations with "up" in senses where no upward movement is involved, e.g. forgive = give up (one's offenses), forgather = "gather up", forbeat = "beat up", etc.
- (dialectal) Very; excessively.
- forolded (“very old”)
- fornigh (“very near”)
Derived terms
See also
- fore-
Anagrams
- 'fro, ORF, fro, orf
Danish
Prefix
for-
- Makes verbs from adjectives meaning "to cause to be [adjective]".
- skøn (“beautiful”) -> forskønne (“beautify”)
- sød (“sweet”) -> forsøde (“sweeten”)
- uren (“unclean”) -> forurene (“pollute”)
- Denotes initial or preparatory action.
- bore (“drill”) -> forbore (“drill a hole for screwing”)
- arbejde (“work”) -> forarbejde (“preparatory work”)
Derived terms
French
Alternative forms
- four-, fre-
Etymology
From Middle French, from Old French for-, partially from Late Latin forīs, taken as an adaptation of the Late Latin adverb forīs (“outdoors, outside”) and used to calque Frankish words prefixed by *fur- (“for-”) (compare Late Latin foris facere (“to do wrong”) = Old High German firwirken (“to do wrong”), Late Latin forisfactus (“evil deed”) = Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐍃 (frawaurhts, “evil deed”), Late Latin foris consiliare (“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
- IPA(key): /fɔʁ/
Prefix
for-
- (nonproductive) prefix used to express error, exclusion, or inadequacy.
Related terms
- forban
- forcené
- forclore
- forclusion
- forfaire
- forfait
- forjeter
- formariage
- formarier
- fourbu
- fourvoiement
- fourvoyer
Icelandic
Prefix
for-
- previous, before, first, pre-
- for- + síða (“page”) → forsíða (“front page”)
- (emphatic) extremely
- negative meaning
Synonyms
- (before): fyrir-
Derived terms
- formaður
- forsjáll
- forstjóri
- fordjúpur
- forbjóða
- forbænir
Irish
Alternative forms
- ur-
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *uɸor-.
Prefix
for-
- over, superior, super-
- outer, external
- great, extreme
Derived terms
Mutation
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. |
References
- "for-" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
Norwegian Bokmål
Prefix
for-
- previous, before, first, pre-
- for- + side (“page”) — forside (“front page”)
- (emphatic) extremely
- negative meaning
Synonyms
- (before): fore-
Derived terms
- forstyrre
- formann
- forskjell
- fordype
- forby
- forbanne
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *fer-, *fur-, *fra- (“away, far”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-, *per-, *pr- with a variety of meanings including ‘rejection, destruction, prohibition’. Cognate with Old Frisian for-, Old Saxon far-, for-, Dutch ver-, Old High German fir-, far- (German ver-), and, outside Germanic, with Ancient Greek περί (perí), Latin per-, Old Church Slavonic пре- (pre-) (Russian пере- (pere-)).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /for/
Prefix
for-
- forming verbs from verbs with various senses especially ‘wrongly, away from, astray, abstention, prohibition, perversion, destruction’
- 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”)
Derived terms
Descendants
- Middle English: far-, fer-, for-
- English: for-
Old Irish
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *uɸor-. Prefix form of for.
Prefix
for-
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text
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.
Derived terms
Old Saxon
Prefix
for-
- Alternative form of far-