Obs. For forms see FARE v.1 Cf. FORFERE. [OE. forfaran, (f. FOR- pref.1 + faran, FARE v.) = OFris. forfara, OHG. fer-, for-, furfaran, Ger. verfahren.]
1. intr. To pass away, perish, decay.
O. E. Chron., an. 910. Hi þïr mæst ealle siððan forforon. Ibid., an. 1091. Seo scip fyrde æer he to Scotlande cuman mihte, ælmæst earmlice forfor.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 141. Þet folc wes welnech for-faren drinkeles.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3018.
| To-morȝen, but he muȝen vt-pharen, | |
| Egyptes erf sal al for-faren. |
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 478.
| Thys lord the brwyss I spak of ayr, | |
| Saw all the kynryk swa forfayr. |
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., IV. 951.
| They seynge her dwellyng so forfare, | |
| So fle awaye with greet compleynt and care. |
1494. Fabyan, Chron. V. lxxxiii. 61, marg. Thonge Castell … is now Forfaryn.
1578. Scot. Poems 16th C., II. 178.
| Without God puneis their cruell vice | |
| This warld sall all forfair. |
b. pa. pple. Worn out with travel, age, etc.
1393. Gower, Conf., I. 45.
| Bot as it were a man forfare | |
| Unto the wode I gan to fare. |
1460. Lybeaus Disc. (1890), 1573.
| No kniȝt for nesche ne hard, | |
| Þauȝ he schold be forfard, | |
| Ne geteþ her non ostell. |
15[?]. Merchant & his Son, in Hazl., E. P. P., I. 141–2.
| He was black as any pyche, and lothely on to loke, | |
| All for-faren wyth the fyre stynk, and all of smoke. |
1787. Burns, Brigs of Ayr, 109.
| And tho’ wi’ crazy eild I’m sair forfairn, | |
| I’ll be a Brig, when ye’re a shapeless cairn! |
a. 1810. Tannahill, Kebbuckston Wedding, Poems (1846), 139.
| And Neilie MacNairn, | |
| Though sair forfairn, | |
| He vows that he’ll wallop twa sets with the howdie. |
2. trans. To cause to perish, destroy.
a. 1000. Laws Edw. & Guth., § 11. On earde forfare [man] hy mid ealle.
c. 1205. Lay., 11454.
| Wulleð Romleode | |
| cumen to þissere þeode, | |
| & for-uaren vs mid fehte. |
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 158. Tuo busses wer forfaren, þat in þe tempest brak.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), IV. ii. 58. Whiche worme soo had forfaren these pepyns and corrumped them withynne, that they myght nought kyndely sprynge to a fayre appel tree.
c. 1450. Bk. Curtasye, 219, in Babees Bk. (1868), 305.
| Thre enmys in þys worlde þer are, | |
| Þat coueyten alle men to for-fare,— | |
| The deuel, þe flesshe, þe worlde also. |
a. 1605. Polwart, Flyting w. Montgomerie, 47.
| Ask mercie, make obedience | |
| In time, for feare leist I forfaire thee. |
¶ 3. By Skene associated with F. forfaire, med. L. forisfacĕre. (See quot.)
1597. Skene, De Verb. Sign., s.v. Forisfactum, It is taken for fornication committed be ane woman … to fore-fair, or abuse her bodie. Ibid. (1609), Reg. Maj., 39. Wemen,——gif they forfair or abuse their bodies in fornication, and are convict thereof: all they quha hes committed sic ane trespas, sall be disherissed.
