forgo, forego, v.
(fə-, fɔəˈgəʊ)
Pa. tense for-, forewent. Pa. pple. for-, foregone. Forms: see go.
[OE. forgán, -gangan, f. for- prefix1 + gán, gangan: see go.]
† 1. intr. To go away, go past, pass away. Obs.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. v. 18 Enne pricle..ne forgæs from ae wið ða huile alle sie. a 1300 Cursor M. 6264 (Cott.) Þe see on aiþer side þam stod Als walles tua, quils þai for yod. 1563 Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. xlix, And fast by him pale Malady was plac'd: Sore sick in bed, her colour all foregone. |
† 2. trans. To go by, pass over.
lit. and
fig. Hence, to leave alone or undone, neglect, overlook, slight.
Obs. exc. arch.| c 1000 ælfric Hom. (Th.) I. 92 Seðe þis forgæið his sawul losað. c 1000 ― Exod. xii. 23 He [Drihten] forᵹæþ þæs huses duru. a 1300 Cursor M. 25344 (Cott.) Grant vs þi maght..to luue vr euen cristen sua þat we þair lastes ma forga. ? a 1500 Trevisa's Barth. de P.R. (1535) vi. xvi, He [the euyll seruant] forgeth [1398 forgendreþ] all his lordes nedes, and leaueth them vndone. 1858 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) II. i. 29 He..never..allowed the claims of his profession to make him forego the superior claims of his country. |
† 3. To avoid, elude.
Obs. rare—1.
| c 1305 Edmund Conf. 301 in E.E.P. (1862) 79 Þer lurnede þis holi man..þe deueles poer forgon. |
† b. To overreach, deceive.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1382 Wyclif Col. Prol. 429 Thei weren forgon of false apostlis. |
4. To go from, forsake, leave.
Obs. exc. arch.| a 1300 Cursor M. 17012 (Gött.) Mannes saul..wold neuer if it might þe bodi self forga. c 1340 Ibid. 13280 (Trin.) Petur and andrew..wiþ o word haue þei ship forgone. 1530 Palsgr. 556/1 Shall I forgo your company nowe. 1622 Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 191 When D. was Banished, he then forewent his local Habitation. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iv. 46 When to ripen'd Manhood he shall grow, The greedy Sailer shall the Seas forego. 1725 Pope Odyss. xii. 450 Vengeance, ye Gods! or I the skies forego. 1821 Wordsw. Sonn., Clerical Integrity, Their altars they forego, their homes they quit. 1844 Mrs. Browning Catarina to Camoens iv, And if they looked up to you, All the light which has forgone them Would be gathered back anew. |
5. To abstain or refrain from (some action or procedure). Rarely with
to and
inf. as object.
| a 1000 Laws Cnut §85 in Thorpe Anc. Laws I. 424 Þæt he..smeaᵹe..hwæt him sy to donne & to forganne. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 290 Þys god man Seyn Dunston Hatede muche to crouny hym, ȝyf he yt myȝte ver gon. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) xviii, Vnnethe he myȝte forgoe to wepe. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 9 The Authour here declareth the cause why hee..forewent the translation of the learned Poet Lucan. 1768 Beattie Minstr. ii. xlvi, Then jarring appetites forego their strife. 1842 Pusey Crisis Eng. Ch. 72 We forewent much which any of us might have desired to do. 1860 Hawthorne Transform. xv, He had foregone to be a Christian reality. 1871 Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. x. 313 We forego any comparison between the two men. |
| absol. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxxiv, Chieftains, forego! I hold the first who strikes my foe. |
6. To abstain from, go without, deny to oneself; to let go or pass, omit to take or use; to give up, part with, relinquish, renounce, resign.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Forgang þu ones treowes westm. a 1225 Ancr. R. 8 Fleschs forgon oþer visch. c 1400 Melayne 307 Bid hym hawkes & houndes forgoo, And to dedis of armes hym doo. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 3 No greate pleasure shoulde be foregone thereby. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. viii. 9, I am vnarm'd, forgoe this vantage, Greeke. 1653 Milton Hirelings Wks. (1847) 435/1 Though Paul were pleas'd to forgo his due, and not to use his Power..yet he had a Power. 1714 Gay Trivia iii. 300 Ah hapless Swain..Canst thou forgo Roast-Beef for nauseous Pills? 1748 Hartley Observ. Man ii. iii. 343 The Pleasures are to be foregone, and the Pains accepted. 1828 E. Irving Serm. I. p. liv, Whatever He..forewent of infinite glory..is to be placed to the account of mankind. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. ii. iv, Wear but one robe the less—forego one meal. 1849 M. Arnold New Sirens, Those slackened arms forgo The delight of death-embraces. |
† 7. To go without (compulsorily), to be without; to miss, lack.
Obs. rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3443 (Cott.) His wijf þat lang had child for-gane Now sco bredes tua for ane. c 1340 Ibid. 23292 (Trin.) Mercy shul þei euer forgoon. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxii. 147 Alssone as þai forga þe smell of þam þai dye. a 1400–50 Alexander 188 And gett agayn his awyn gronde at he forgais nowe. |
† b. To let go (involuntarily), lose, forfeit.
Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 22130 Alc mon þe his lond hafde for-gan. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 9 Hem thynken oftymes that they maye neuer forgoo the likyng that they haue. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxvi. 395 He had sodainly forgone his sight, which was afterward restored againe. |
| absol. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. liv. Þere shal be plente of all good wiþoute drede of lesyng or forgoyng. |
† 8. Only in
pa. pple.: Exhausted with going, wearied, faint. Also, faint with emotion.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 3527 (Cott.) Quen he al weri was forgan Ham he tok his wai o-nan. 13.. Coer de L. 5472 Myn [horses] ar wery and forgon. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 1054 Than seighe he a weri knight forgon, Vnder a tre slepeand alon. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame i. 115 He that wery was for-go On pilgrimage myles two. 1597 T. Beard Theat. Gods Judgem. (1612) 350 The poor slave, all forgone at this..ouglie sight, looked everie minute to be devoured. |
Hence
forˈgoing vbl. n.;
forˈgone ppl. a. Also
forˈgoer, one who forgoes (something).
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Col. ii. 12 After suche forgoyng of your bodyes, which were thral to sinne. 1611 Cotgr., Abandonneur..forgoer. 1627 Sanderson Serm. I. 268 They chuse to be still ignorant, rather than hazard the forgoing of any part of that freedom. 1736 Butler Anal. i. v. Wks. 1874 I. 93 The voluntary foregoing many things which we desire. 1828 Webster, Foregoer, one who forbears to enjoy. Ibid., Foregone, forborne to be possessed or enjoyed. |