English

Noun

foreward ‎(plural forewards)

1. (obsolete) An advance group; the vanguard.

Adverb

foreward

1. Misspelling of forward.

Anagrams

• farrowed

Middle English

Alternative forms

• forward, forthward

Etymology

From Old English foreweard, foreward ‎(“condition, bargain, agreement, contract, treaty, assurance”), equivalent to fore- +‎ ward ‎(“ward, keeping”). Liken Dutch voorwaarde ‎(“condition, terms, proviso, stipulation”). More at fore-, ward.

Noun

foreward (plural forewards)

1. agreement, contract, treaty, bargain, covenant; terms of an agreement; pledge or promise

   Pers, I plihte þe my trouþe To folfulle þe Foreward. — Piers Plowman, c1390

   To tak or ȝef temporal þing for goostly þing of forþword or certeyn couenaunt, it is symonye. — An Apology for Lollard Doctrines, Attributed to Wicliffe, c1475

References

• Middle English Dictionary
• A Concise Dictionary of Middle English, Mayhew and Skeat

Old English

Alternative forms

• fōreweard

Etymology 1

From fore- +‎ -weard.

Adjective

fōreward

1. forward, fore, former, early, prior

   On fórewardre ðyssere béc ys awriten be me‎

   In the fore part of this book it is written by me.

Declension

Etymology 2

From fore- +‎ ward ‎(“ward, keeping”).

Noun

fōreward f ‎(nominative plural fōrewarde)

1. an agreement, compact, treaty

   His bróðer griþ and fórewarde eall æftercwæþ — His brother, peace and treaties renounced

Declension

References

• 2010, J. Bosworth, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online (T. N. Toller & Others, Eds.), foreward