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Webster 1913 Edition


Forego

Fore-go′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Forewent 2
;
p. p.
Foregone
(?; 115)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Foregoing
.]
[See
Forgo
.]
1.
To quit; to relinquish; to leave.
Stay at the third cup, or
forego
the place.
Herbert.
2.
To relinquish the enjoyment or advantage of; to give up; to resign; to renounce; – said of a thing already enjoyed, or of one within reach, or anticipated.
All my patrimony,,
If need be, I am ready to
forego
.
Milton.
Thy lovers must their promised heaven
forego
.
Keble.
[He] never
forewent
an opportunity of honest profit.
R. L. Stevenson.
Forgo is the better spelling etymologically, but the word has been confused with
Forego
, to go before.

Fore-go′

,
Verb.
T.
[AS.
foregān
;
fore
+
gān
to go; akin to G.
vorgehen
to go before, precede. See
Go
,
Verb.
I.
]
To go before; to precede; – used especially in the present and past participles.
Pleasing remembrance of a thought
foregone
.
Wordsworth.
For which the very mother’s face
forewent

The mother's special patience.
Mrs. Browning.
Foregone conclusion
,
a conclusion which has preceded argument or examination; a predetermined conclusion.

Webster 1828 Edition


Forego

FOREGO'

,
Verb.
T.
[See Go.]
1.
To forbear to possess or enjoy; voluntarily to avoid the enjoyment of good. Let us forego the pleasures of sense, to secure immortal bliss.
2.
To give up; to renounce; to resign. But this word is usually applied to things not possessed or enjoyed, and which cannot be resigned.
3.
To lose.
4.
To go before; to precede. Obs.

Definition 2024


forego

forego

English

Verb

forego (third-person singular simple present foregoes, present participle foregoing, simple past forewent, past participle foregone)

  1. To precede, to go before.
    • Wordsworth
      pleasing remembrance of a thought foregone
Usage notes
  • The sense to precede is usually found in the form of the participles foregone (especially in the phrase "a foregone conclusion") and foregoing (usually used either attributively, as in "the foregoing discussion", or substantively, as in "subject to the foregoing").
Translations

Etymology 2

See forgo

Verb

forego (third-person singular simple present foregoes, present participle foregoing, simple past forewent, past participle foregone)

  1. Alternative spelling of forgo; to abandon, to relinquish
    • 1762 Waller, T. The White Witch of the Wood, or the Devil of Broxbon, in The Beauties of all the Magazines Selected, for the Year 1762, Vol. I (February), page 34:
      [] for on no other terms does she desire a reconciliation, but will sooner forego all the hopes to which her birth entitles her, and get her bread by service, than ever yield to become the wife of the ——.
Usage notes
  • Many writers prefer the spelling forgo for this sense, on the grounds that it avoids ambiguity with forego "to precede," especially in aspects such as "forgoing"/"foregoing" and "forgone"/"foregone."

References

  • forego in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • forego in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams