"F" Word Origins

fore

Origin

A shortened form of the prefix fore-, meaning "before" or "in front."

forearm

Origin

From fore- + arm.

forebegotten

Origin

From fore- + begotten.

foreboding

Origin

From fore- + bode ("to foretell") + -ing.

forecast

Middle English

From Middle English forecasten, from fore- + cast ("to throw" or "to calculate in advance").

forecasting

Origin

From Middle English forcastyng, forcastynge, equivalent to forecast + -ing.

forecaution

Origin

From fore- + caution. First attested in 1662.

forechoice

Origin

From fore- + choice.

foreclose

Old French

From Old French forclore ("to exclude"), from for- ("outside") + clore ("to close").

foreclosure

Origin

From foreclose, shaped by analogy with closure.

foreday

Origin

From Middle English *foreday (attested only in plural foredais), equivalent to fore- + day.

foredeem

Origin

From Middle English *foredemen, from Old English foredēman (“to prejudge”), equivalent to fore- + deem.

forefather

Origin

From Middle English forefader, forfader, vorvader, from Old English forefæder (“forefather”), but possibly also merged with Old Norse forfaðir. Equivalent to fore- + father. Compare Dutch voorvader (“forefather”), German Vorvater, Vorfahr (“forefather”), Danish forfader (“forefather”), Swedish förfader (“forefather”).

forefinger

Middle English

From Middle English forefynger, equivalent to fore- + finger.

forefront

Middle English

From Middle English forefrount, equivalent to fore- + front.

foreganger

Origin

From Middle English forganger, forgangere, from Old English *foregangere, from foregangan (“to go before, precede, go in front of, project, excel”), equivalent to fore- + ganger. Cognate with Scots foregangare (“a foregoer”), Dutch voorganger (“a predecessor, progenitor”), German Vorgänger (“a predecessor, precursor”), Swedish föregångare (“a forerunner, precursor, progenitor”).

forego

Old English

From Old English foregān, equivalent to fore- + go.

foreground

Origin

From fore- + ground.

foreguess

Origin

From Middle English foregessen, equivalent to fore- + guess.

forehead

Old English

From Old English forehēafod, from fore- + head — cognate with German Vorhaupt.

forehold

Origin

From fore- (prefix meaning ‘positioned at or near the front’) + hold (“the cargo area of an aircraft or ship”). Hold is a variant of hole (influenced by hold (verb)), from Middle English hole, hol (“perforation, hole; cave, cavern; hiding place, shelter; cell, compartment”), from Old English hol (“hole (in the ground)”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol (“hollow”), from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“depression, hollow; hole”), from Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”); further etymology uncertain, possibly either from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover; to conceal, hide”) or *ḱewh₁- (“to be strong; to swell”).

foreign

Latin

From Old French forain, ultimately from Latin foris, meaning "outside." The silent "g" was added later, likely by analogy with the word reign.

foreigner

Middle English

From Middle English forener, built from foreign + -er.

foreknowledge

Origin

From fore- + knowledge.

forelook

Origin

From Middle English vorloken, forluken, equivalent to fore- + look.

foreman

Middle English

From Middle English foremon, equivalent to fore- + man.

foremath

Origin

From fore- + math (“a mowing”), by analogy with aftermath.

foremost

Old English

From Old English formest, meaning "earliest" or "most prominent," ultimately linked to the words for and first.

forenight

Origin

From Middle English fore-niht, from Old English foranniht, equivalent to fore- + night. Cognate with Dutch voornacht, German Vornacht.

forenoon

Origin

From Middle English forenone, equivalent to fore- + noon.

forensic

Latin

From Latin forensis, "of the forum," since Roman legal matters were argued in public in the forum.

foreordination

Origin

From fore- + ordination.

forepassed

Origin

From fore- + passed.

foreplay

Origin

From fore- ("before") + play — literally "play that comes before."

forerun

Origin

From fore- + run. Piecewise cognate of Swedish förrinna.

forerunner

Origin

From Middle English forrenner, foreriner. Calque of Latin praecursor (“one who runs before, a forerunner”). Equivalent to fore- + runner and/or forerun + -er.

foresay

Origin

From Middle English foresayen, foreseyen, foreseggen (found only in past participle foresaid), from Old English foreseċġan (“to foresay, foretell, predict, announce, mention beforehand”), equivalent to fore- + say. Cognate with Dutch voorzeggen (“to foretell, presage”), Old Danish foresige, Swedish föresäga, förutsäga (“to predict”).

foresee

Old English

From Old English foresēon, literally "to see beforehand" — fore- ("before") + see.

foreseeable

Origin

From foresee + -able.

foreseeing

Origin

From Middle English foreseing, forseying, equivalent to foresee + -ing.

foreshadow

Origin

The verb is derived from fore- (prefix meaning ‘before with respect to time, earlier’) + shadow (“to shade, cloud, or darken”, verb). The noun is derived from fore- + shadow (“faint and imperfect representation”, noun), probably modelled after the verb which is attested earlier.

foreshadowing

English

From fore- 'before, in advance' plus shadow, on the image of a shadow being cast ahead of the thing that casts it.

foreshock

Origin

From fore- + shock.

foreshorten

Origin

From fore- + shorten.

foresight

Latin

From Middle English forsight, modeled on Latin providentia — fore- + sight.

foreskin

Latin · 1535

From fore- + skin, formed to translate the Latin term praeputium; first recorded around 1535.

foreskinless

Origin

From foreskin + -less.

forespell

Origin

From fore- + spell. Compare Dutch voorspellen (“to predict”).