Forby

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /fəˈbʌɪ/

Alternative forms

• foreby 15th-16th c.
• forbye

Origin

From Middle English forby, forbi, of Middle Low German or origin, equivalent to - + by. Compare Dutch voorbij ("past"), Low German vorbi, vörbi, German vorbei ("gone, past"), Danish forbi, Swedish förbi. More at fore, by.

Full definition of forby

Adjective

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Uncommon; out of the ordinary; extraordinary; superior.He's a forbye man.

Adverb

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Past; by; beyond.
• 1899, Richard Garnett, Alois Leonhard Brandl, The universal anthology:To see the world and folk that went forby, ...
2. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Uncommonly; exceptionally.He was forby kind.

Preposition

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Beyond; past; more than; greater than; over and above; moreover.
2. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic, of time) Past; gone by; over.
3. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Near; beside; by, close to.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:Those were the two sonnes of Acrates old
  Who meeting earst with Archimago slie,
  Foreby that idle strond, of him were told,
  That he, wich earst them combatted, was Guyon bold.
4. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) On one side; out of the way.
5. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Besides; in addition to; as well as; not to mention.There was other six forby me.
6. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) With the exception of; not taking into account.