Obs. [OE. forðfaran, f. FORTH adv. + faran to go: see FARE v.1]
1. intr. To go forth, go away, depart, journey.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxiii. § 4. Swa ðætte hi æȝþer ȝe forþ faraþ ȝe eftcumaþ.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 339.
| Go we þene narewe wei and þene wei grene | |
| þer forð-fareð lutel folc ac it is feir and scene. |
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter, x[i]. 1.
| I sal forth fare, ife I wil, | |
| Als a sparwe in to þe hil. |
c. 1300. K. Alis., 6936.
| Al was forgete; sorwe and care | |
| That day thei letten forth fare. |
2. To decease, die.
O. E. Chron. an. 571. On þam ilcan ȝeare he forþfor.
c. 1175. Cott. Hom., 225. Noe lefede on all his life niȝon hund ȝeare and fifti, and he þa forðferde.
c. 1205. Lay., 11458. Þenne þu beost forð faren.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 218. Atte laste he moste dyen and forþ-fare.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 5266. Þemperour was forþ-fare · faire to crist.
Hence Forthfaring ppl. a. (also absol.). arch.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 210. Þeos seoue bestes, & of hore streones iðe wildernesse, & of onliche liue, is iseid hiderto,—þet alle þe uorðfarinde uondeð to uordonne.
1876. Swinburne, Erechth., 1323.
| O God dark-winged, deep-throated, a terror to forth-faring ships by night, | |
| What bride-song is this that is blown on the blast of thy breath? |
