Also 1 fær-, 3 Orm. forr-, 3–4 south. vor-, ver-, 4 fur-, 6–7 fore-. [OE. for-, fær- = OFris. for-, far-, OS. for-, far- (Du. ver-), OHG. far-, fir-, fer- (MHG. and mod.G. ver-), ON. for- (Sw. för-, Da. for-); the ON. fyrer- (see FORE- pref.) though formally distinct, often corresponds in use with this prefix. The OE. form (like the other forms quoted) seems to represent (with obscured vowel due to absence of stress) the three OTeut. prefixes *fer-, fra-, fur- (Goth. faír-, fra-, faúr-), which correspond formally to Gr. περι-, προ-, παρα-, representing various ablaut-grades of the Aryan root *pr-: see FOR and FORE. Functionally, the three prefixes do not seem to be clearly distinguished even in Gothic; but in most cases when a vb. with OE. for- or Ger. ver has a Goth. equivalent, the prefix appears as fra-, which seems to have been orig. its stressed form: cf. the two OE. forms fra·cod and forcú·ð (see FOR-COUTH), which are believed to be accentual variants of the representative of pre-Teut. *prognto-, despicable.
From the predominant meaning of the root, it may be inferred that the primary notion expressed by the prefix is that of ‘forward, forth.’ The various uses in the Teut. langs. may be plausibly explained as originating from this, though the exact process of their development is in many points uncertain: see Grimm’s Deutsches Wb., s.v. ver-. The vbs. formed with this prefix often correspond in signification to Gr. vbs. formed with one or other of the cognate prefixes περι-, προ-, παρα-, and to Lat. vbs. with per- or pro-.]
A prefix used to form verbs and adjs., primarily occurring in OE. words of Com. Teut. or WGer. origin, but employed in the formation of new words down to the beginning of the mod.Eng. period; it is now entirely obsolete. Its various functions are enumerated below. The words here explained and illustrated are all obsolete; the surviving words formed with the prefix, and those obsolete ones which require extended treatment, are given as main words in their alphabetical place.
I. Forming verbs.
1. Prefixed to verbs, giving the additional sense of ‘away,’ ‘off,’ as in FORCAST; forshake, to shake off; forshoot, to cast off, reject; forthrow, to throw off.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter, cviii. [cix.] 23. *For-schaken [Vulg. excussus] als gressop with gram.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 13663 (Cott.). Quen iesus wist him þus *for-scotten.
1340. Ayenb., 86. Zuo þet he ne may hit *uorþrawe to his wylle [mistranslation of si que il ne sen peult pas jetter dehors a sa voulente].
2. With the sense of prohibition, exclusion, or warding off, as in FORBID; forrun, to bar by running; forsay, to renounce, exclude by command. Also with the sense of concealing from view: forcover, FORWRAP.
In this use the sense closely approaches that of FOR-2, FORE-; cf. FOR(E)FEND, FOR(E)SHIELD.
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xxvii. 16. And she dide about his hondis litel skynnes of kiddis, and she *forcoueride the nakid of the nak.
c. 1205. Lay., 12859.
| Costantin | |
| & bad þa wæi-witere | |
| *for-ærnen þa wateres. |
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., May, 82.
| But shepheard must walke another way, | |
| Sike worldly souenance he must *foresay. | |
| Ibid., July, 69. | |
| And sithens shepheardes been foresayd | |
| from places of delight. |
3. With the notion of passing by, abstaining from, or neglecting, as in FORBEAR, FORGO, FORHOWE; forheed, to disregard. Also with the sense of missing or forfeiting something through what is expressed by the simple vb.: forgreme, to forfeit by displeasing (God); forslip, to let slip; forslug, to neglect through sluggishness.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 35. He com … to giuende þe mihtes þe adam *for-gremede us alle.
c. 1275. Lay., 2579. Wimmen he *for-hedde.
c. 1315. Shoreham, 11.
| Ȝet gret peryl hy undergothe | |
| That cristneth twyes enne, | |
| Other to ȝeve asent ther-to, | |
| Other for love of kenne | |
| For-hedeth; | |
| Wanne child ariȝt cristnynge heth, | |
| And that other nauȝt for-bedeth. |
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., II. 115 (127). He shifted off and dallied with them still, untill they had *forslipt the opportunitie of pursuing him, and untill of necessity the forces were to be dissolved and withdrawn.
c. 1315. Shoreham, 114.
| Wanne man leteth adrylle | |
| That he god ȝelde schel, | |
| And *for-sluggyth [printed slaggyth] by wylle | |
| That scholde men to stel. |
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 611. Now certes this foule sinne, accidie … forsleweth and forsluggeth, and destroyeth alle goodes temporeles by reccheleesnesse.
4. With the sense of ‘wrongly,’ ‘mis-,’ as forraught, perverted; forworship, to worship wrongly.
c. 1200. Ormin, 14538.
| & All mannkinn wiþþutenn hemm | |
| Wass full off alle sinness, | |
| & all *forrrahht ȝæn Godd. |
c. 1380. Antecrist, in Todd, 3 Treat. Wyclif, 141. Þei seyn we *forwirship.
5. Implying destructive, painful or prejudicial effect, as in FORDEEM, FORDO; forgab, to defame, publish the misdeeds of; forglut, to waste in gluttony, devour; forhang, -head, to put to death by hanging, by beheading; forpierce, forprick; forscald, to scald, scorch; forseethe, to scald; forsench, to submerge, drown; forsink, to be submerged; forswithe, to torture or destroy by burning; forwall, to torture with boiling. Also in pa. pples.: forfaded; forfrorn, frozen up, stuck fast in the ice; forroasted, tortured by roasting; forstived, stifled, choked; forswarted, blackened; fortossed; forwithered, withered or dried up.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), IV. xxviii. 73. Sone as the heye is drye, the floure is *forfaded & al the beaute therof torned to nought.
1481. Caxton, Reynard, xxxiii. (Arb.), 95. She nether way ne path helde, But wente in to the yse wherein she was *forfrorn.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 631.
| But whoso *for-gabbed a frere · y-founden at þe stues, | |
| And brouȝte blod of his bodi · on bak or on side, | |
| Hym were as god greuen · a greit lorde of rentes. |
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XII. 66. Þese wrecches … in gayenesse and in glotenye · *for-glotten here goodes.
c. 1300. Havelok, 2723.
| Quoth erl godrich, ‘for ich shal slo | |
| Þe, and hire *for-henge heye. |
c. 1300. K. Alis., 1365.
| And he that the treson dude, | |
| Was *forhedid in that steode. |
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), IV. xx. 68.
| Gooth nere and seeth how he is forlete, | |
| And al forpercid sore and pytously. |
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7490.
| Vor þre stedes he slou vnder him, as me say, | |
| *Vor-priked, and uor-arnd aboute, & uor-wounded also. |
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), III. viii. 55. So moche haue they woundyd and forprycked other folk about them, that now it is hye tyme that they brenne, and poynte no more.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 10. Whanne he was al *for-rostyd, fryed, & scaldyd, & þus for-brent, he roryd as a deuyl for peyne.
a. 1225. Juliana, 70. [The pitch] leop wallinde hat up … ant *for scaldede of ham seoluen fifti ant tene.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 246. Þu hauest forschalded þe drake heaued mid wallinde watere.
a. 1450. trans. Higden (Harl. MS.), VII. 528. Liȝtnyng forscalded [L. ustulavit] cornes.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 312. Lete we teares, leste ure owune teares *uorseoðen us in helle!
c. 1315. Shoreham, 165.
| For death scholde his meystryes kethe, | |
| And for-sopil and for-sethe | |
| In deathes bende. |
a. 1225. Juliana, 60. His [Adam’s] team … suneȝede swa swiðe þat tu hit *forsenchtest al in noes flode.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1114. So *for-sanc and brente ðat steden.
1563. Sackville, Induct. Mirr. Mag., xx.
| That here in sorrowe art forsonke so depe, | |
| That at thy sight I can but sigh and wepe. |
13[?]. Cast. Love, 1729, in Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. (1892), App. xxxviii. 405.
| I am *for-styfyd among, | |
| Thi synne stynketh on me so strong! |
c. 1305. Pilate, 227, in E. E. P. (1862), 117. And iseȝ his bodie *alforswarted.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 306. Ure inwit, uorkuliinde [v. r. *forswiðande] hire suluen mid þe fure of sunne.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1139.
| Ðo meidenes herden quilum seien, | |
| Ðat fier sulde al ðis werlde forsweðen. |
1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps. xxii. 2. 78. We shall be in deede *foretossed, howbeit our faith shall alwayes scape shipwrecke.
a. 1240. Sawles Warde, in Cott. Hom., 251. Þat pich ham *forwalleð aðet ha beon for mealte.
1563. Sackville, Induct. Mirr. Mag., xii.
| Her body small, *forwithered, and forespent, | |
| As is the stalk that sommers drought opprest. |
b. With the sense of ‘asunder, in pieces,’ as in FORBURST, FORGNAW; forcleave; forhale, fig. to distract; forrend. Also in pa. pples.: forbrittened, broken in pieces; forcrazed, fallen to pieces; forfrushed, shattered to pieces; forpinched, forscattered, fortattered, fortorn.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 2273.
| Braynes forebrusten thurghe burneste helmes, | |
| With brandez forbrittenede one brede in þe laundez. |
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 231/418. Þ he *for-clef is foule bouk in þre partyes atþe laste.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 543. A tweyne i wol forcleue þyn hed.
c. 1320. The Seuyn Sages (W.), 723.
| Of chaumbers, and of hegghe halle, | |
| Of old werk, *for-crased alle. |
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 1180.
| Of grete roches þey fulle al doun, | |
| & al *furfrusched bak & croun. |
c. 1477. Caxton, Jason, 58 b. By all my goddes fayr lady our ship is alle to broken & forfrusshid as ye may see & is ful of watre.
1568. C. Watson, Polyb., 63. The whole navie was in greate perill, and many of them sore forfrushed.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Sept., 242.
| Ah but Hobbinol, all this long tale, | |
| Nought easeth the care, that doth me *forhaile. |
1614. Davies, Eclogue, Willie & Wernock, 26.
| Is thilke the cause that thou been ligge so laid, | |
| Who (? = whom) whilom no encheson could fore-haile; | |
| And caitiue-courage nere made misapaid, | |
| But with chiefe yongsters songsters bar’st thy saile? |
c. 1325. Poem Times Edw. II., 303, in Pol. Songs (Camden), 337. Hit shal be so *for-pinched, to-toilled, and to-twiht.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 118. Þanne schal þat soule, wrechyd & nakyd, wyth-outyn couert, ben all *for-rent wyth helle-ratchys, þat arn feendys.
1496. Dives & Paup. (W. de W.), V. viii. 206/1. Woo be to the shepeherdes that thus descateren and forrende the flocke of my lesue and my pasture.
1430. Lydgate, Chronicle of Troy, I. ix.
| That like to shepe were *forskatered wide, | |
| All destitute of gouernour or guide. |
c. 1460. Towneley Myst. (Surtees), 239.
| And I am leverd a lap is lyke to no lede, | |
| *For-tatyrd and torne. |
1496. Dives & Paup. (W. de W.), VI. xv. 258/2. It [that blysfull bodye] was for-rent and *for tourne.
c. Prefixed to sbs., forming vbs. used only in pa. pple. with the sense ‘overpowered or troubled by’ (what is expressed by the sb.), as forstormed, tempest-tossed; forwintered, reduced to straits by winter.
1393. Gower, Conf., I. 160.
| The ship, which on the wawes renneth, | |
| And is *forstormed and forblowe. |
1481. Caxton, Reynard, iii. (Arb.), 6. In the harde froste he had ben sore *forwynterd.
6. Expressing the notion of something done in excess or so as to overwhelm or overpower; in pa. pples.: forbeft, baffled; forbolned, puffed up; forchafed, overheated; forfastened; forflitten, scolded above measure; forfried, too much fried; forfrighted, greatly terrified; forglopned, overwhelmed with astonishment; forladen, -lode, overloaded, overpowered; forpained; forpampered, pampered to excess; forswollen; forswong, harassed; fortaxed, overburdened with taxation; fortired, excessively wearied.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVII. 793. Voundit, and wery, and *forbeft.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle, III. ii. 50. Thou hast a grete bely ful of wynd *forbolned and forblowen.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccxxvi. Ther came to them Sir Olyuer of Clysson, *forchafed [printed forchased, F. eschauffé] and enflamed, for he had long pursued his enemyes.
1488. Caxton, Chast. Goddes Chyldern, 32. We ben *forfestned wyth a dart of his ferdnes.
1603. Philotus, ci.
| I haue bene threatnit and *forflittin, | |
| Sa oft that I am with it bittin, | |
| Invent a way or it be wittin. |
c. 1440. Psalmi Penit. (1894), 36.
| My bonus beth drie and forsoke, | |
| As scrachenis that beth *forfryed. |
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3519. Ðis *for-friȝted folc fiȝeren stod.
c. 1200. Ormin, 669.
| To beldenn & to frofrenn þe, | |
| Ȝiff he þe seþ *forrgloppnedd. |
c. 1300. Cursor M., 19634 (Edin.).
| Saul him quoke, sua was he rad, | |
| Forglopnid in his mode als mad. |
1565. Golding, Ovid’s Met., II. (1593), 28. Winter … *Forladen with the isykles that dangled up and downe. Ibid., III. (1593), 75. As one forlode with wine.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 246. Pensyf, payred, I am *for-payned.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 10. Allas, þat euere I was baptysed, & toke any sacrament, to be þus forpeyned!
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., II. metr. v. 36 (Camb. MS.). They ne weere nat *forpampred with owtrage.
1593. Golding, Ovid’s Metam., I. 15.
| The serpent Python so *forswolne, whose filthie wombe did hide | |
| So many acres of the grounde in which he did abide. |
a. 1400. Legends of the Holy Rood (1871), 194.
| And when þow were so *for-swong, | |
| Among þe iues þey did þe hong. |
c. 1460. Towneley Myst. (Surtees), 98.
| We ar so hamyd, | |
| *For-taxed, and ramyd, | |
| We ar mayde hand tamyd. |
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1008.
| Sir, all þe ȝeres of owr youth · bene ȝare syne passyd, | |
| And we for-traveld & *for-tyred. |
1423. Jas. I., Kingis Q., xxx.
| Bewailing In my chamber thus allone, | |
| Despeired of all Ioye and remedye | |
| For-tirit of my thoȝt and wo begone. |
1598. E. Gilpin, Skial. (1878), 12.
| Perhaps fore-tyrde he gets him to a play, | |
| Comes home to supper, and then falls to dice, | |
| There his deuotion wakes till it be day, | |
| And so to bed, where vntill noone he lies. |
b. Prefixed to intransitive verbs, forming compounds chiefly intr. with sense ‘to weary or exhaust (oneself) by’ doing what the vb. denotes, as in FORWALK, FORWANDER, FORWEEP. Also in pa. pples. and ppl. adjs.: forcried, fordreamed, forfast(ed, exhausted with fasting; forlaboured; forlapped, sated with lapping or drinking; forplaint, wearied with complaining; forraked, overdone with walking; forrun (forarned); forsung (-songen); forswunk, exhausted with labor; fortoiled; forwake, -waked, wearied with waking or watching; forwallowed, wearied with tossing about; forwatched.
a. 1600. Freirs of Berwyk, in Maitland Poems (1786), I. 73.
| Quhen he was tynt; for-knokit, and *for-cryit; | |
| About he went onto the tother syd. |
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 3393. Than wakkenyde I i-wys, alle wery *for-dremyde.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12940 (Cott.). Þe warlau … sagh him hungri and *for-fast.
c. 1450. Mirr. Saluacioun, 1535 (1888), 51. He hoped crist was forfastid.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 395 b/2. Fyl a grete tempeste on them in which they were gretely troubelyd longe tyme and sore *for-laboured.
c. 1510. More, Picus, Wks. 11/2. If we be forlabored in the waie of sinne, as much as in the waie of God.
c. 1307. Pol. Songs (Camden), 238. When he is al *for-laped.
1423. Jas. I., Kingis Q., lxxiii.
| So lang till evin, for lak of myght and mynd, | |
| For-wepit and *for-pleynit pitously. |
c. 1440. Towneley Myst. (E.E.T.S.), 124. I am wery *for-rakyd and run in the myre.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7490.
| Vor þre stedes he slou vnder him, as me say, | |
| Vor-priked, and *uor-arnd aboute, & uor-wounded also. |
c. 1470. Henry the Minstrel, Wallace, X. 703.
| Feill Scottis hors was drewyn in to trawaill, | |
| Forrown that day so irkyt can defaill. |
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 663.
| Chalaundres fele saw I there, | |
| That wery, nigh *forsongen were. |
a. 1250. The Proverbs of Ælfred, 292, in O. E. Misc., 120.
| If heo ofte a swote | |
| *for swunke [1275 fur-swu[n]ken] were. |
1589. Mar Martine, 5. Sith swaines forswonke, & so forswat, moght, sayen what them list.
1567. Drant, Horace’s Epist., II. ii. H ij.
| Whilste snorting like a very hogge the *foretoylede did groyne, | |
| A pridgeman from him pryuilie his money did purloyne. |
a. 1310. in Wright’s, Lyric P., vi. 28.
| Icham for wowyng al *for-wake, | |
| wery so water in wore. |
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man of Law’s T., 498.
| Wery, *for-waked in here orisoun, | |
| Slepeth Constaunce, and Hermyngyld also. |
c. 1460. Towneley Myst. (Surtees), 104.
| I wote so forwakyd is none in this shyre: | |
| I wold slepe if I takyd les to my hyere. |
1827. W. Tennant, Papistry Storm’d, 163.
| Upo’ the death-bed o’ the floor, | |
| For-wakit and for-drunken. |
1423. Jas. I., Kingis Q., xi.
| For-wakit and *for-walowit, thus musing, | |
| Wery, forlyin, I lestnyt sodaynlye. |
a. 1483. Liber Niger, in Househ. Ord. Edw. II. (1876), 65. If any Squier for the body be lett blood, or elles *forewatchid, he shall haue sike liuerey with Knightes.
1557. Tottell’s Misc. (Arb.), 139.
| His eyes were red and all forewatched, | |
| His face besprent with teares. |
7. With the sense ‘all over,’ ‘through and through’; prefixed to transitive vbs. as in FORBRUISE, or rendering intrans. vbs. transitive, as in FORGROW. So forcratch, to scratch all over; fordin, to fill with noise, resound through; forseek, to search thoroughly; forspread, to overspread; also fordewed pa. pple., soaked with dew.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 322.
| Nor she hadde no-thing slowe be | |
| For to *forcracchen al hir face. |
1430. Lydgate, Chronicle of Troy, I. vi.
| That all *fordewed were her wedes blake. | |
| And aye this sorowe she made for his sake. |
1501. Douglas, Pal. Hon., Prol. iii.
| Whaise schill nottis *fordinned all the skyis | |
| Of repercust air the echo cryis. |
1563. Sackville, Induct. Mirr. Mag., lxxii.
| Foredinning the ayer with his horrible yel, | |
| Out of the diepe darke cave where he did dwell. |
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter, xxxv. 11. *For-sprede þi merci thorgh þe land.
8. Prefixed to transitive vbs. with intensive force, or, in many cases, without perceptibly modifying the sense, as in FORDREAD; forrue, to rue, regret. Also in pa. pples., forbroiden, wrought with embroidery; forchanged, forcrooked; fordreved, perturbed; forpossed (posse = push), pushed violently, tossed about; forshend, severely injured; forwrithen, wreathed in many coils; forwrinked, made tortuous.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28016 (Cott.). Biletts *for-broiden and colers wide.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst. (Surtees), 224.
| Alas, for doylle, my lady dere, | |
| Alle *for-changid is thy chere. |
c. 1305. Edmund Conf., 336, in E. E. P. (1862), 80. Þe hond was ek *forcroked.
c. 1200. Ormin, 2194.
| Ȝiff ure laffdiȝ Marȝe wass | |
| Forrshamedd & *forrdrefedd. |
1430. Lydgate, Chronicle of Troy, III. xxiv.
| That their tentes standing on a rowe, | |
| *Forpossid were and ybeten downe. |
c. 1430. Compleynt, 530, in Lydg., Temple Glas (1891), App. i. 66.
| And thus forpossid be-twene tweye, | |
| Of hasty cold & sodeyn hete | |
| Now I cheuere, & now I swete. |
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VII. 3295.
| The Kyng off Norway at the last | |
| And hys men *fer revyd sare, | |
| That evyre thai arrywyd thare. |
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 540. Bot gif I fand the, forrow now to keip my cunnand.
c. 1475. The Romans of Partenay, 3305.
| The fire so kindled thorugh all certainly, | |
| The monkes all betrapped and *forshend, | |
| That neuer on soule scaped outwardly. |
1401. Political Poems (Rolls), II. 45.
| A! *for-writhen serpent, | |
| thi wyles ben aspied. |
14[?]. Lydg., Temple Glas., 83.
| The Minatawre slow amyd þe hous, | |
| That was *for-wrynkked bi craft of Dedalus. |
9. Forming factitive vbs. from adjs. or sbs. of quality, or prefixed to factitive vbs. so derived: forbliss, to make happy; fordeave, to deafen; forlength, to prolong; formeagre, to make lean. Also in pa. pples. and ppl. adjs., forderked, darkened; forfatted, fattened; forfeebled, enfeebled; forhoared, become hoary; foridled, given up to idleness.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 13108 (Cott.).
| And þat man sal *for-blisced be | |
| þe quilk him sclanders noght for me. |
1501. Douglas, Pal. Hon., I. iii. Thair ȝelpis wilde my heiring all *fordeifit.
1430. Lydgate, Chronicle of Troy, Prol. (1513).
| Of thinges passed *fordyrked of theyr hewe, | |
| Which through the writing be refreshed new. |
1586. J. Ferne, The Blazon of Gentrie, 143. For the preseruation of hys people, a King ought rather to be wanne and leane, then through epicurisme, & misdiet (as Heliogabalus) *forefatted as a Monster, and more filthie then a beast.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VII. Prol. 10. *Forfeblit wolx his [Phebus] lemand giltly lewyne.
1587. Turberv., Trag. T. (1837), 37.
| Wherfore with faint, forfeebled as she was, | |
| With bowing knee she fell vpon the grasse. |
1591. Harington, Orl. Fur., XXIV. lxvii. (1634), 194.
| The Prince inforcing his forefeebled voice, | |
| Saith thus, I thee conjure my sole delight, | |
| By that deare love that made me first thy choice, | |
| And thee from native soile to take thy flight. |
c. 1450. Guy Warw. (C.), 11089. Thou olde and *forhoryd man.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 116. Ase þeo þet beoð *foridled.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter, cxxviii[i]. 3. Þair wickednesse *for-lenghþed þai.
1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps. xxxix. 7. They *for-meygre themselves … bycause they imagin that all is too little for them.
II. In adjs. [Cf. the cognate L. per-, Gr. περι-.]
10. Giving to an adj. the sense of an absolute superlative. ‘very,’ ‘extremely’; as for-black, -cold, -dry, -dull, -faint, -great, -hoar, -old, -weary; fordead, utterly speechless and still.
[OE. had for-wel, very well, very, for-éaðe, very easily, for-oft, very often; a stressed variant of the prefix is fræ-, as fræmicel ‘eximius,’ fræfǽtt ‘præpinguis,’ fræofestlíce ‘propere.’ Cf. ON. for-lítill, very little, for-mikill, very great, etc.; also the use of Sw. för, Da. for, in the sense of ‘too.’ It is remarkable that nearly all Chaucer’s examples of these compounds admit of being explained as instances of for prep, governing an adj.; thus in the quots. below, ‘for-blak’ may be taken as = ‘for black (that it was),’ ‘for blackness’; ‘fordrye, as whyt as chalk’ may be read, omitting the comma, ‘as white as chalk for dry (that it was),’ ‘on account of being so dry.’ It is possible that Chaucer himself may have apprehended the combinations in this manner.]
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt’s T., 1285.
| His longe heer was kembd bihinde his bak, | |
| As any ravenes fether it shoon *for-blak. |
c. 1320. The Seuyn Sages (W.), 2623. He was *forcold, and lokede aboute.
1592. G. Harvey, Pierce’s Super., 66. Who would have thought, or could have imagined, to have found the witt of Pierce so starved and clunged: the conceit of an adversarie, so weatherbeaten and tired: the learning of a schollar, so pore-blind and lame: the elocution of the Divels Oratour, so lanke, so wan, so meager, so blunt, so dull, so *fordead, so gastly, where the masculine furie meant to play his grisliest and horriblest part? Ibid., 133. Patience looveth not to be made a cart of Croiden; and no such libbard for a lively ape as fordead silence.
a. 1386. Chaucer, Sqr.’s T., 401.
| Amidde a tree *fordrye, as whyt as chalk, | |
| As Canacee was pleying in hir walk, | |
| Ther sat a faucon over hir heed ful hye, | |
| That with a pitous voys so gan to crye. |
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 191.
| I holde hym madde that bryngeth forth his harppe, | |
| Therone to teche a rude *for-dulle asse. |
c. 1570. Marr. Wit & Science, IV. iii. in Hazl., Dodsley, II. 368.
| Ye sprites, for-dull with toil: | |
| Resign to me this care of yours, | |
| And from dead sleep recoil. |
c. 1440. Psalmi Penit. (1894), 2.
| Mi flesch ys frel, my soule hath eek | |
| *Forgret mester to make monus. |
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 355.
| Ful salowe was waxen hir colour, | |
| Hir heed for-hoor was, whyt as flour. |
c. 1340. Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight, 1439.
| On þe sellokest swyn swenged out þere | |
| Long sythen for þe sounder þat wiȝt *for olde [? or is this a vb.]. |
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1284. He hadde a beres skin, col-blak, for-old.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2443. Wel out from alle weyes · *for-wery þei hem rested.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 3336. Forwery, for-wandred as a fool.
