fordo, foredo, v.
(fə-, fɔəˈduː)
Pa. tense -did (-ˈdɪd). Pa. pple. -done (-ˈdʌn). Forms: see do.
[OE. fordón, f. for- prefix1 +dón to do. Cf. OS. fardôn (Du. verdoen), OHG. fartuon (MHG. vertuon. Ger. verthun).]
1. trans. To put (a living being) out of existence, to kill; to put an end to (life). Obs. exc. arch.
| a 1000 Pœnit. Ecgberti ii. §2 in Thorpe Anc. Laws II. 180 Be þam wifmen þe..hire bearn fordeð. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 426 Caym ðat abel for-dede. a 1300 Cursor M. 2867 (Cott.) For if ani fische þar-in bigane..þe lijf it es for-don wit stink. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2557 Phyllis, She for dispayr fordede hyre self. c 1460 How Goode Wif Taught Doughter 140 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 189 Many for folye hem self for-doothe. a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. 843 Offspring of each race With mortal warr eche other may fordoe. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 244 This doth betoken The Coarse they follow, did with disperate hand, Fore do it owne life. a 1659 Bp. Brownrig Serm. (1674) I. xxi. 274 He trembles, despairs, is ready to foredo himself. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 348 By the sword's edge his life shall be foredone. |
† b. to fordo into or fordo to: see destroy v. 7. Obs.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. x. 28 Ah is rehtræ ðone ondredes seðe mæᵹe & ða s[a]uel & lic-homa fordoa in tintergo. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 17 Betere hit is þet heo beon ispilled of heore licome þenne mid alle fordon to þes deofles hond. a 1200 Moral Ode 274 And al þo þe ani wise deuel iquemde Þo beð mid hem in helle fordon and demde. |
2. To destroy, ruin, spoil, wreck (a place or thing); to lay waste (land). arch.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. ii. x. [xiv.] (1890) 138 Se biscop..towearp & fordyde þa wigbed. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1137 Þe land was al fordon mid suilce dædes. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 884 A tempest þat tyme began to falle And fordede here vynys alle. 1357 Lay Folks Catech. 489 Sklaundir for to fordo a mannes gode fame. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 410 Syne tuk he salt..And ded horss, and fordid the well. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 141 They..ffor doth the coyne..And maketh the peple ffor pens-lac in pointe ffor to wepe. c 1460 How Wise Man Taught Son 76 in Ritson Anc. Pop. P. (1791) 86 Were thy complexion neuyr so strong, Wyth surfet thou mayst fordo that. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 375 He raysed upp..consciences that were utterly foredone. 1845 Bailey Festus 388 Throne wrecked on throne, All ruined and foredone. |
† 3. To ruin or undo (a person). Also (in late use), To deprive of. Obs.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2269 Now helpeþ ȝow silue on þes cas{revsc} or ellis ȝe buþ for-done. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. ix. 13 He [God]..keepeth in his bosome, those which (as touching the fleshe) seeme vtterly fordoone. 1647 H. More Poems 264 Those bad arts that have fore-done Many a bold wit. 1764 Churchill Poems, Independence II. 12 Lioness of royal whelps foredone. |
4. † a. To abolish (an institution, etc.); to annul (a law, etc.). Obs.
| O.E. Chron. an. 986 Se cyning fordyde þæt b'rice æt Hrofe ceastre. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 186 A newe testament he gan sone, þe olde sacryfyce to fordone. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 320 The enterdyccion was adnullyd & fordoon, in the moneth of Julii. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. li. Wks. (1876) 136 Oblacyons and sacrefyces whiche be now vtterly fordone. 1528 More Dyaloge ii. Wks. 198/2 Ye would not I truste that lent were fordone. 1532 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. xli. 109 To cause the said injust exactions..to cease & to be foredoen for ever. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 149 All statutes and ordynaunces before made..were utterly fordone and set at naught. 1833 Whittier Ex. New Eng. Leg. 3 How has New England's romance fled..Its rites foredone, its guardians dead. |
b. To do away with, put away, remove. Chiefly with immaterial obj., esp. sin. Obs. or arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10052 (Gött.) Gastly gladnes was hir emydd, Þat al ille heuynes it for-didd. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3391 Syns þat er veniele..may be here Fordon on light manere. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxliv. (1495) 701 The barke and fruyte of the Ellern soden wyth salt water fordooth swellynge of fete. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 2432 The lauender That neuer might for noo washing For-doo the spottes of the weping. 1600 Holland Livy xli. iii. (1609) 1098 To..wipe away and foredoe the shamefull blot. 1894 F. S. Ellis Reynard 146 Now Reynard, to foredo the brand Of sin, will to the Holy Land. |
† 5. To undo, bring to nought; to render powerless, counteract, neutralize (poison, temptation, etc.). Obs.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 105 Þenne maȝe we fordon swa þa deofliche ȝitsunge. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 484 Ichulle fordon þe wisdom of þeos wise worldmen. a 1250 Owl & Night. 822 Þonne is þes hundes smel fordo. a 1300 Cursor M. 11947 (Cott.) Þat i do þou it for-dos. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 87 For soth it was grete skathe, his passage was fordone. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 152 Venym for-doth venym. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 26 They will fordoe and frusrate the dangers pronounced. |
† 6. To change, transform. Obs.
| 1624 Heywood Gunaik. i. 53 Nisus and Scilla are in shape foredoone, He to a hawke, she to a larke is shifted. |
7. Pa. pple. only: Exhausted, overdone, wearied out, ‘done up’. arch.
| a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 785 Go see where thow hast left Anchises thy father fordone with age. 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John ii. (1611) 79 My heart is maz'd, my sences all fore⁓done. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan vi. 744 Universal Nature stands foredone. 1796 Coleridge Ode Depart. Year Epode ii, All foredone with toil and wounds Death-like he..dozes among heaps of dead. 1867 M. Arnold Southern Night vii, With Indian heats at last fordone. |
Hence forˈdoing vbl. n. Also forˈdoer.
| c 1440 Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 84 Þe secunde fote brede of wose, in dede of enuye, is a fordoyng; þat is, whanne, for enuye in þi dede, þou dystroyest him, þat wolde do ryȝt. 1631 J. Done Polydoron 129 Desperate Foredoers of themselves denote that they turn'd their backs upon God. |