forthink

forthink

English

Etymology

From Middle English forthinken, forthynken (“to displease, cause to regret”), corresponding to for- (“mis-”) +‎ think (“to seem, appear”), from Old English þyncan (“to seem, appear”); see methinks. Cognate with Middle High German verdunken (“to displease”), Icelandic forþykkja (“to displease”). Compare also Old English forþencan (“to mistrust, despise, despair”), Dutch verdenken (“to suspect”), German verdenken (“to blame”).

Verb

forthink (third-person singular simple present forthinks, present participle forthinking, simple past and past participle forthought)

1. (transitive, obsolete, impersonal) To cause distress or regret to; cause to regret or repent; to vex.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “iij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book II:

     with hys swerd lyghtly he smote of hir hede before kynge Arthur / allas for shame sayd Arthur why haue ye done so / ye haue shamed me and al my Courte / for this was a lady that I was be holden to / and hyther she came vnder my sauf conduyte / I shalle neuer foryeue you that trespas / Sir said Balen me forthynketh of your displeasyr / for this same lady was the vntruest lady lyuynge

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

2. (reflexive, obsolete) To regret; repent.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To regret.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XV, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVII:

     So cam he to the chamber dore / and wold haue entryd / And anone a voyce said to hym / Flee launcelot / and entre not / for thou oughtest not to doo hit / And yf thou entre / thou shalt forthynke hit / Thenne he withdrewe hym abak ryght heuy

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

4. (intransitive, obsolete) To repent, be sorry for.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To change one's mind about; to renounce.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:

     Then gan he thinke, perforce with sword and targe / Her forth to fetch, and Proteus to constraine; / But soone he gan such folly to forthinke againe.