v. Pa. t. for-, forewent. Pa. pple. for-, foregone. Forms: see GO. [OE. forgán, -gangan, f. FOR- pref.1 + gán, gangan: see GO.]
† 1. intr. To go away, go past, pass away. Obs.
c. 950. Lindisfarne Gospels, Matt. v. 18. Enne pricle … ne forgæs from ae wið ða huile alle sie.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6263 (Cott.).
| Þe see on aiþer side þam stod | |
| Als walles tua, quils þai for yod, | |
| Til þai war passed thoru þat flod. |
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. Ibid. (c. 1000), Exod. xii. 23. He [Drihten] forȝæþ þæs huses duru.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 25344 (Cott.).
| Wit þi grace 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. For this remarkable man [Richelieu], though he was a bishop and a cardinal, never for a moment 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., Prolouge, 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. | |
| Ibid. (c. 1340), 13280 (Trin.). | |
| Two breþer petur and andrew … | |
| Wiþ o word haue þei ship for gone. |
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. Pastorals, IV. 46.
| But 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, | |
| And bear the lamp of heav’n to shades below. |
1821. Wordsw., Sonn., Clerical Integrity.
| Their altars they forego, their homes they quit, | |
| Fields which they love, and paths they daily trod, | |
| And cast the future upon Providence. |
1844. Mrs. Browning, Catarina to Camoens, iv.
| And if you looked down upon them, | |
| 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 … smeaȝe sþiðe ȝeorne hwæt him sy to donne & to forganne.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 290.
| And þo he ssolde kyng be, þys god man Seyn Dunston | |
| Hatede muche to crouny hym, ȝyf he yt myȝte ver gon. |
c. 1420. Sir Amadace (Camden), xviii.
| Thenne Sir Amadace on his palfray lepe, | |
| Vnnethe he myȝte forgoe to wepe. |
1587. Turberv., Trag. T. (1837), 9. The Authour here declareth the cause why hee wrote these Histories, and forewent the translation of the learned Poet Lucan.
1768. Beattie, Minstr., II. xlv.
| Then wakes from long lethargy to life | |
| The seeds of happiness, and powers of thought; | |
| Then jarring appetites forego their strife, | |
| A strife by ignorance to madness wrought. |
1842. Pusey, Crisis Eng. Ch., 72. We forewent much which any of us might have desired to do, in order that the Church might be listened to, not ourselves.
1860. Hawthorne, Transform., xv. Gifted with a more delicate power than any other man alive, he had foregone to be a Christian reality, and perverted himself into a Pagan idealist, whose business or efficacy, in our present world, it would be exceedingly difficult to define.
1871. Freeman, Hist. Ess., Ser. I. x. 313. To us it seems that the actual designs of Frederick were not unlike those of Henry the Eighth. We forego any comparison between the two men, than whom no two men could well have less of likeness to each other.
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 forgone thereby.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., V. viii. 9. Hect. 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, 1 Cor. 9. 12. yet he had a Power, Ver. 4. and bound not others.
1714. Gay, Trivia, III. 300.
| Ah hapless Swain, unus’d to Pains and Ills! | |
| Canst thou forgo Roast-Beef for nauseous Pills? |
1748. Hartley, Observations on Man, II. iii. 343. The Pleasures are to be foregone, and the Pains accepted.
1828. E. Irving, Serm., I. p. liv. Whatever He suffered, and, which is far more, whatever He forewent of infinite glory and blessedness in order to suffer, is all to be placed to the account of mankind, and not to His own account.
1848. Kingsley, Saint’s Trag., II. iv.
| Wear but one robe the less—forego one meal— | |
| And thou shalt taste the core of many tales | |
| Which now flit past thee, like a minstrel’s songs, | |
| The sweeter for their sadness. |
1849. M. Arnold, New Sirens.
| Love has flush’d those cruel faces; | |
| And those slacken’d arms forgo | |
| The delight of death-embraces, | |
| And yon whitening bone-mounds do not grow. |
† 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. | |
| Ibid. (c. 1340), 23292 (Trin.). | |
| Mercy shut þei euer forgoon. |
c. 1400. Maundev. (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.
| Hæhte þat 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 suddeinly forgone his sight, which was afterward restored agayne vnto him vppon continuall prayer and long repentaunce.
absol. c. 1450. trans. 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 for-gan | |
| Ham he tok his wai o-nan. |
13[?]. Coer de L., 5471.
| I wold have to ryde upon, | |
| For myn [horses] ar wery and forgon. |
c. 1330. Amis and Amiloun, 1054.
| Than seighe he a weri knight forgon, | |
| Ynder a tre slepeand alon. |
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, I. 115.
| As he that wery was for-go | |
| On pilgrimage myles two. |
1597. T. Beard, Theat. Gods Judgem. (1648), 240. The poor slave all forgone at this strange and ugly sight, looked every minute to be devoured, but the Lion in another mood came fawningly and softly towards him, as if he would complain unto him of his greif.
Hence Forgoing vbl. sb.; Forgone ppl. a. Also Forgoer, 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. When they are so resolved to take freedom to sinne, that they chuse to bee still ignorant, rather than hazard the forgoing of any part of that freedom: what doe they, but even runne on blindfold into Hell?
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.
