v. Obs. Forms: Infin. 1 forléosan, 2–3 -leosen, 3 -losen, -lesen, 4–5 -lese, (6 Sc. -leir). Pa. t. 1 forléas, Northumb. -léos, pl. -luron, 3 forleas, (2nd pers. sing. forlure), 3–4 forles, 6–7 forlore, Sc. forloir. Pa. pple. 1–4 forloren, 4 north. forlose(n, -in, 4–8 forlorne, 6–7 forelorn(e, 3–9 forlore, (5 forlo(o)r, 6 Sc. forloir, 8 forelore), 3– forlorn. [OE. forléosan, pa. t. forléas, pl. forluron, pa. pple. forloren; = OFris. forliasa, -liesa, OS. far-, forleosan, -liosan, OHG. far-, fer-, for-, furleosan, -liosan (MHG. verliesen, Ger. verlieren), Goth. fraliusan; f. FOR- pref.1 + -léosan, ME. lesen: see LESE v.
After 15th c. only in pa. pple., and (rarely) in the new forms, inf. (Sc.) forleir, pa. t. forlore [Sc. forloir).]
1. trans. To Lose, in various senses.
Beowulf, 2861 (Gr.).
| Þa wæs æt þam ȝeongum grim andswaru | |
| eð-begete þam þe ær his elne forleas. |
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 83. Mon hefde uorloren efre stephne bi-uore gode.
c. 1205. Lay., 213.
| His moder wes ihoten Creusa, | |
| Priames kinges dohter. | |
| þe Eneas his fader | |
| in Troie for-leas. |
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 246. Þe weorreur of helle mei longe asailen ou, & forleosen al his hwule.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 815.
| An so for-lost the hund his fore, | |
| An turnth aȝen eft to than more. |
a. 1300. Cursor M., 714 (Cott.). To win þe blis he had forlosin.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., IV. pr. iv. 100 (Camb. MS.). Yif þat a man hadde al for-lorn hys syhte.
c. 1430. Hymns Virg. (1867), 124.
| Thy honde warke þat þou hast wrowytn, | |
| My dere son, for-lese hem nowhte! |
c. 1460. Towneley Myst. (Surtees), 188.
| My right ere I have forlorne, | |
| Help, alas, I blede to dede. |
1581. J. Bell, Haddon’s Answ. Osor., 322 b. It may seeme we haue either forlorne all mercy and compassion, or that pitty and mercye haue forsaken their owne intralles and vowelles.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, VII. i.
| Erminiaes steed (this while) his mistresse bore | |
| Through forrests thicke among the shadie treene, | |
| Her feeble hand the bridle raines forlore, | |
| Halfe in a swoune she was for feare I weene. |
1663. Robin Hood & Curtal Friar, xiii., in Child, Ballads, V. cxxiii. (1888), 124/1.
| Robin Hood lighted off his horse, | |
| And tied him to a thorn: | |
| ‘Carry me over the water, thou curtal frier, | |
| Or else thy life’s forlorn.’ |
2. To destroy, cause to perish, cut off.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 1281 (Gr.).
| He wolde … | |
| forleosan lica ȝehwilc. |
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues (1888), 73. Gif he þar inne bersteð and brekð, he is forloren and sone ut-ȝeworpen.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1143.
| Ðo meidenes … wenden … | |
| ðat man-kinde wore al for-loren. |
1393. Gower, Conf., I. 314.
| Thus they that comen first to-fore | |
| Upon the rockes ben forlore. |
1560. Rolland, The Court of Venus, III. 274.
| Siclike becaus Diomeid wald forleir | |
| The fers Troians. |
1614. Sylvester, Bethulia’s Rescue, VI. 175.
| Ope, open (said Shee): for the God of Power | |
| Th’ Assyrian Forces hath this Night forlorn, | |
| And lifted up his chosen Jacob’s Horn. |
1664. Flodden F., I. 2.
| What banners bravely blaz’d and borne! | |
| What standards stout brought to the ground! | |
| What worthy lords by him forlorne, | |
| That sorrow in Scotland yet doth sound! |
b. intr. for refl. To perish, come to nought.
a. 1225. St. Marher., 3. Ne ne let tu neauer mi sawle forleosen wið þe forlorne.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 2252.
| Nalde nawt godd leoten | |
| his martirs licomes | |
| liggen to forleosen. |
c. trans. To bring to ruin, put to shame, confound; also, to lead astray to one’s ruin. (Usually in passive.)
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 5. Forleteð yure synne. þat ȝe ne ben ifunden on sunne and swo forlorene.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter cxlii[i]. 12. And for-lese my faas in merci þine.
c. 1400. Melayne, 76.
| Bot, lorde, als þou lete me be borne | |
| Late neuer my sawle be forlorne. |
a. 1471. Political Poems (Rolls), II. 241.
| Unavysyd clerk soone may be forlore | |
| Unto that theef [Simony] to donne obeysaunce. |
1578. Gude & Godlie Ballates, 193.
| Lowse me or I be forloir | |
| And heir my mone. |
1591. Spenser, Vis. Worlds Vanitie, vi.
| O! how great vainnesse is it then to scorne | |
| The weake, that hath the strong so oft forlorne! |
3. To leave, abandon, desert, forsake.
c. 1460. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866), 97.
| And he be getten in bawdre, | |
| Or ellis a bastarde he be borne,— | |
| This cause I tell well for the,— | |
| The order of preest-hode he has forlorne. |
1590. Spenser, F. Q., III. ix. 52.
| Fashioning worlds of fancies euermore | |
| In her frail wit, that now her quite forlore. |
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, III. lxxvi.
| Thus fell the trees, with noice the desarts rore, | |
| The beastes, their caues; the birds, their nests forlore. |
Hence Forlesing vbl. sb., loss, perdition.
1340. Ayenb., 156. Uor þet me be-ulyȝt hire folye and hire uorlyezinge. Ibid., 243. Zuyche religious byeþ ine wel grat peril of hare uorlyezynge.
