forlese

English

Alternative forms

• forleese

Etymology

From Middle English forlesen, from Old English forlēosan (“to lose, abandon, let go, destroy, ruin”), from Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną. Equivalent to for- +‎ lese. Cognate with Scots forlore (“to lose”), Dutch verliezen (“to lose”), German verlieren (“to lose”), Swedish förlisa (“to be lost”), Swedish förlora (“to lose”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔːˈliːz/

Verb

forlese (third-person singular simple present forleses, present participle forlesing, simple past forlore, past participle forlorn)

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (transitive, obsolete) To lose entirely or completely.
2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (transitive, obsolete) To destroy, kill.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To abandon, forsake.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:

     Soone as they bene arriv'd upon the brim / Of the Rich Strond, their charets they forlore […]

4. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (transitive, obsolete) To bereave, deprive.

Usage notes

Survives in the derived participle adjective forlorn.

References

• “forlese”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.