forlorn, a. and n.
(fəˈlɔːn)
Forms: see forlese.
[pa. pple. of forlese.]
A. adj.
† 1. Lost, not to be found. Obs.: see the vb.
| 1577 Harrison England ii. ix. (1877) i. 190 To the end they should lie no more in corners as forlorne books and vnknowne. |
† 2. Morally lost; abandoned, depraved. Obs.
| 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1137 Hi [the lawless barons in Stephen's time] weron al forcursæd, & forsworen & forloren. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 546 Miȝti men, and fiȝti, [and] for-loren. a 1300 Cursor M. 25074 (Cott.) Þe quick þe godmen er and chosen, þe ded þe wick þat ar for-losen. 1578 Gude & Godlie Ballates 30 The Forlorne Sone, as it is writtin in the xv. Chapter of Luk. 1598 Drayton Heroic. Ep. xvi. 53 He that's in all the Worlds blacke sinnes forlorne. 1683 Apol. Prot. France ii. 20 They hire forlorn Wretches to go to the Sermons of the Protestant Ministers. |
† 3. ‘Lost’, ruined, doomed to destruction. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 309 Lord Phebus, cast thy merciable eye On wrecche Aurilie, which that am for-lorne. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xxxviii, As thou were a forloor man. 1554 Traves in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xxxiii. 88 As though ye were a man forlore. 1696 Tate & Brady Ps. vi. 1 And spare a Wretch forlorn. 1719 Young Busiris v. i, What urge these forlorn rebels in excuse For choosing ruin? |
† b. forlorn boys (= Fr. enfants perdus), forlorn fellows, etc.: men who perform their duty at the imminent risk of their life. forlorn fort: one held at extreme risk. See also forlorn hope.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1137/2 Fortie or fiftie forlorne boies. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 17 He shall set abroad certaine forlorne Sentinels without the Word. 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 137 Some new band of forlorne fellowes appeared. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 298 To march to a Forlorn Fort..six Leagues from [etc.]. |
c. Desperate, hopeless.
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks 591 Everything..seemed as altogither lost and forlorne. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. Introd. Wks. 1871 I. 137 [We] sit down in a forlorn Scepticism. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1732, In the forlorn state of his circumstances. 1836 W. Irving Astoria II. 183 Having seen these three adventurous bands depart upon their forlorn expeditions. 1874 Morley Compromise (1886) 8 The home of great and forlorn causes. |
4. Of persons or places: Abandoned, forsaken, deserted; left alone, desolate.
| 1535 Goodly Primer (1834) 120 An old forlorn house. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence xvii, To help King Henry vtterly forlorne. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid s Met. viii. (1626) 152 Whither fly'st thou? leauing me for-lore. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 180 Yon dreary Plain, forlorn and wilde. 1704 Pope Autumn 22 To the winds I mourn; Alike unheard, unpity'd, and forlorn. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 79 Dreading an accident in so forlorn a place, I..stood out to sea again. 1814 Cary Dante, Inf. xxx. 16 A wretch forlorn and captive. 1829 Hood Eugene Aram x, Horrid stabs in groves forlorn And murders done in caves. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lx, The little village looks forlorn. 1863 F. Locker Lond. Lyrics, Reply to Invit. Rome ii, Perhaps you think your Love forlore Should pine unless her slave be with her. |
b. Const. of, † from: Forsaken by (a person); bereft, destitute, or stripped of (a thing).
| c 1150 Departing Soul's Addr. Body v, Eart thu forloren from al that thu lufedest. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 4 Or art thou of thy loved lasse forlorne? 1667 Milton P.L. x. 921 Forlorn of thee Whither shall I betake me. 1697 Dryden Iliad i. Fables (1700) 208 The good old Man, forlorn of human Aid, For Vengeance..pray'd. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vii. xxv, He went like one that..is of sense forlorn. 1832 Tennyson Œnone 15 Mournful Œnone wandering forlorn Of Paris once her playmate. 1871 Rossetti Love's Nocturn ii, Dreamland lies forlorn of light. |
5. In pitiful condition, wretched.
| 1582 T. Watson Centurie of Loue xiii, Such as lay with pestilence forlorne. a 1628 F. Greville Alaham iv. iii, Nothing can come amisse to thoughts forlorne. 1724 R. Welton 18 Disc. 454 They saw so great a man in so forlorne a plight. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xli. 549 His forlorn appearance. 1866 Miss Mulock Noble Life xii, Ay, be it the forlornest bodily tabernacle in which immortal soul ever dwelt. |
b. Of a wretched appearance, meagre.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 94 The Trees, though Sommer, yet forlorne and leane. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 335 Hee was so forlorne, that his Dimensions (to any thicke sight) were inuincible. 1875 F. Hall in Lippincott's Mag. XV. 338/2 Forlorn pullets, certainly from the same farmyard with the lean kine of Egypt. |
† B. n. Obs.
1. A forlorn person.
| c 1506 Dunbar Littill Interlud 165 The Gret Forlore Of Babylon. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 26 Henry..Is..forc'd to liue in Scotland a Forlorne. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 210 ¶6 [An old maid writes] I am surrounded with both, though at present a Forlorn. 1814 Forgery ii. ii, There, poor forlorns, divide the little there. |
2. Short for forlorn hope; a body of troops detached to the front, a front line, vanguard. Also pl., the men forming a forlorn hope.
| 1645 Cromwell Let. to Lenthall 14 Sept., Captain Ireton with a forlorn of Colonel Rich's regiment. 1677 W. Hubbard Narrative ii. (1865) 181 The Forlorne of our Forces. 1688 J. S. Art of War 54 The General must send his Forlorns to post themselves on the highest places. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. ii. App. (1852) 187 Four companies of these were drawn out as forlorns. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 287, I..rode up to the forlorn. |
| transf. and fig. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche iv. cxliii, Next these, a large Brigade was marshallèd, For whose forlorn first march'd the hardy Boar. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. Introd. i. (1656) 10 The fearful are in the forlorne of those that march for hell. 1666 Lond. Gaz. No. 68/4, 12 or 14 as the Vauntguard or Forlorn of their Fleet. 1680 R. L'Estrange Season. Mem. Liberties Press & Pulpit 4 There started out a Party upon the Forelorn, to make Discoveries, and try the Temper of the Government. 1681 Crowne Thyestes v. Dram. Wks. 1873 II. 70 Sometimes they'll..stand A flight of beams from the forlorn of day. 1674 Dryden Epil. Open. New Ho. 10 Criticks..Who..still charge first, the true forlorn of wit. |