For-
Pronunciation
- stressed IPA: /fÉ”Ë/
- unstressed IPA: /fÉ™/
Origin
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 *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.
Full definition of for-
Prefix
- (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- (no longer productive) Meaning "completely", "to the fullest extent" e.g. fordo; superseded by combinations with "up" in senses where no upward movement is involved, e.g. forgive = give up (one's offenses), forgather = "gather up", forbeat = "beat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")