for that, conj.
Also 7 for that that.
[See for prep. 21 b.]
1. For the reason that, because. arch.
| c 1200 Ormin 3826 Þa wakemenn to frofrenn Forr þatt hi wisste wel þatt teȝȝ Off himm fordrædde wærenn. a 1250 Owl & Night. 365 And seist for þat ich fleo bi nihte þat ich ne mai iseo bi lihte. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 14 In moiste bodies for þat þe smale lymes ben feble. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. iv. 82 For that I love your daughter..I must advance the colours of my love. 1620 J. Wilkinson Coroners & Sherifes 1 The Statute of Westminster..rehearseth, For that that people of small condition..be..chosen [etc.]. 1641 J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 116 For that her mistress had corrected her, her stomack riseth against it. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 26 For that wine is dear, We will be furnish'd with our own. 1894 Yellow Bk. I. 67 It is hard to trace folly, for that it is inconsequent, to its start. |
¶ The mod. use of for that in reported speech (when both words are conjs.) is to be distinguished from the above.
| 1774 Goldsm. Grecian Hist. II. 8 The courier conjured him..that he should read them forthwith, for that they contained matter of great importance. 1821 Keats Lamia 306 Bidding him raise His drooping head..For that she was a woman. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1889) II. xvii. 282 He had told them to go to their supper..for that nothing more would be done that day. 1873 Tristram Moab i. 6 That we were needlessly encumbering ourselves, for that..rice might be procured..in the villages. |
† 2. For the purpose that; in order that. Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 1019 Þatt waȝherifft wass hengedd tær, Forr that itt hidenn shollde All [etc.]. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 146 Al folk he dede him loue, For þat noman schuld him schoue. 1428 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 7 For þ{supt} þair praiers suld stand John Lyllyng to availl. 1572 R. H. tr. Lauaterus' Ghostes (1596) 104, I thought good to repeate these things..the rather for that the reader might see, that [etc.]. |