fore-
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English fore-, from Old English fore-, from Proto-West Germanic *forē-, from Proto-Germanic *fura-, *furai- (“before, in front of, for”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, formerly; through, throughout”).
Akin to Old Saxon and Old High German fora-, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰- (faura-) (see 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰 (faura)), Dutch voor- (“fore-”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɔː/
- (General American) IPA(key): /fɔɹ/
- (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /fo(ː)ɹ/
- (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /foə/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
- Homophones: four, for (in accents with the horse–hoarse merger)
Prefix[edit]
fore-
- Positioned at or near the front
- Before; ahead or in front of.
- Occurring beforehand; earlier; prior to
Usage notes[edit]
Some terms prefixed with for- (“far, very”) have alternative spellings beginning with fore-, though they do not derive from fore- (they do not mean “before”); examples include foreshame, foreslack, foreslow. Conversely, some terms prefixed with fore- have alternative spellings beginning with for-, such as forbear; the form with fore- is usually preferred to avoid ambiguity, with the conspicuous exception of forward/forwards. In some cases analogous words with both prefixes are found, as in forego (“go before”) vs. forgo (“do without”), forebear (“ancestor”) vs. forbear (“restrain oneself”), and forespeak (“speak before, foretell”) vs. forspeak (“speak ill of; curse; charm, bewitch”).[1] The prefixes might be distantly related (from Proto-Indo-European), but are distinct in English.
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Fore- or for-?, OxfordWords
Anagrams[edit]
Old English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-West Germanic *forē-, from Proto-Germanic *furai-.
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
fore-
- before, in front of, pro-
- fore- + cwide → forecwide (“introduction, heading; prophecy”)
- fore- + manian → foremanian (“to forewarn, admonish”)
- fore- + mǣrlīċ → foremǣrlīċ (“eminent, foreboding”)
- fore- + rīm → forerīm (“prologue”)
- fore- + cnēoris → forecnēoris (“progeny”)
- fore- + frēfrend → forefrēfrend (“proconsul”)
- fore- + costiġan → forecostigan (“to profane”)
- fore- + ġehāt → foreġehāt (“vow”)
- fore- + mearcung → foremearcung (“title, chapter”)
- first, prime, occupying a prominent position
- very, supremely, foremost
- fore- + maniġ → foremaniġ (“very many”)
- fore- + mihtiġ → foremihtiġ (“most mighty”)
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English prefixes
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English prefixes