forsake

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English[edit]

WOTD – 9 February 2021

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English forsaken (“to abandon, desert, repudiate, withdraw allegiance from; to deny, reject, shun; to betray; to divorce (a spouse); to disown; to be false to (one's nature, vows, etc.; to give up, renounce, surrender; to discard; to omit; to decline, refuse, reject; to avoid, escape; to cease, desist; to evade, neglect; to contradict, refute; to depart, leave; to become detached, separate”) [and other forms],[1] from Old English forsacan (“to oppose; to give up, renounce; to decline, refuse”),[2] from Proto-West Germanic *frasakan (“to forsake, renounce”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (prefix meaning ‘away, off’) + *sakaną (“to charge; to dispute”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek out”)). The English word can be analysed as for- +‎ sake, and is cognate with Saterland Frisian ferseeke (“to deny, refuse”), West Frisian fersaakje, Dutch verzaken (“to renounce, forsake”), Middle High German versachen (“to deny”), Danish forsage (“to give up”), Swedish försaka (“to be without, give up”), Norwegian forsake (“to give up, renounce”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (sakan, “to quarrel; to rebuke”), .

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

forsake (third-person singular simple present forsakes, present participle forsaking, simple past forsook, past participle forsaken)

  1. (transitive) To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something).
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To decline or refuse (something offered).
    • 1697, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in Virgil; John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432, lines 329–330 and 333–336, page 106:
      The youthful Bull muſt wander in the Wood; / Behind the Mountain, or beyond the Flood: / [...] / With two fair Eyes his Miſtreſs burns his Breaſt; / He looks and languiſhes, and leaves his Reſt; / Forſakes his Food, and pining for the Laſs, / Is joyleſs of the Grove, and ſpurns the growing Graſs.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To avoid or shun (someone or something).
    • 1580, Thomas Tusser, “The Authors Beleefe”, in Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: […], London: […] Henrie Denham [beeing the assigne of William Seres] […], OCLC 837741850; republished as W[illiam] Payne and Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, OCLC 7391867535, stanza 14, page 196:
      This was that Pascall lambe [i.e., Jesus] whose loue for vs so stood, / That on the mount of Caluerie, for vs did shed his blood: / Where hanging on the Crosse, no shame he did forsake, / Till death giuen him by pearcing speare, an ende of life did make.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To cause disappointment to; to be insufficient for (someone or something).
    • 1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of the Humming-bird, and Its Varieties”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], volume V, new edition, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], OCLC 877622212, part IV (Of Birds of the Sparrow Kind), page 320:
      Theſe birds, on the continent of America, continue to flutter the year round; as their food, which is the honey of flowers, never forſakes them in thoſe warm latitudes where they are found.

Conjugation[edit]

conjugation of forsake
infinitive forsake
present participle forsaking
past participle forsaken
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I forsake we forsake I am forsaking we are forsaking I have forsaken we have forsaken I have been forsaking we have been forsaking
you forsake you forsake you are forsaking you are forsaking you have forsaken you have forsaken you have been forsaking you have been forsaking
he forsakes they forsake he is forsaking they are forsaking he has forsaken they have forsaken he has been forsaking they have been forsaking
past I forsook we forsook I was forsaking we were forsaking I had forsaken we had forsaken I had been forsaking we had been forsaking
you forsook you forsook you were forsaking you were forsaking you had forsaken you had forsaken you had been forsaking you had been forsaking
he forsook they forsook he was forsaking they were forsaking he had forsaken they had forsaken he had been forsaking they had been forsaking
future I will forsake we will forsake I will be forsaking we will be forsaking I will have forsaken we will have forsaken I will have been forsaking we will have been forsaking
you will forsake you will forsake you will be forsaking you will be forsaking you will have forsaken you will have forsaken you will have been forsaking you will have been forsaking
he will forsake they will forsake he will be forsaking they will be forsaking he will have forsaken they will have forsaken he will have been forsaking they will have been forsaking
conditional I would forsake we would forsake I would be forsaking we would be forsaking I would have forsaken we would have forsaken I would have been forsaking we would have been forsaking
you would forsake you would forsake you would be forsaking you would be forsaking you would have forsaken you would have forsaken you would have been forsaking you would have been forsaking
he would forsake they would forsake he would be forsaking they would be forsaking he would have forsaken they would have forsaken he would have been forsaking they would have been forsaking
imperative forsake
  • Archaic second-person singular simple present form: forsakest
  • Archaic third-person singular simple present indicative form: forsaketh

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “forsāken, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “forsake, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1897; “forsake, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Low German vorsaken, from Old Saxon farsakan, from Proto-West Germanic *frasakan (“to forsake, renounce”).

Verb[edit]

forsake (imperative forsak, present tense forsaker, simple past and past participle forsaka or forsaket, present participle forsakende)

  1. to give up, relinquish, forsake
  2. to denounce (the devil)

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

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