v. Pa. t. forswore. Pa. pple. forsworn. Forms: see FOR- pref. and SWEAR. [OE. forswęrian str. vb., f. FOR- pref.1 + swęrian to SWEAR.]
1. trans. To abandon or renounce on oath or in a manner deemed irrevocable; = ABJURE. To forswear the land, etc.: to swear to abandon it forever. Also with inf. as obj.
Beowulf, 804. He sigewæpnum forsworen hæfde.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 387. He made hym, vor hys treson, vorsuerye Engelond.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 97. Þe lond boþe forsuore.
c. 1470. Henry the Minstrel, Wallace, X. 214. I wald forswer Scotland for euirmair.
1561. T. Norton, Calvin’s Inst., IV. 109. By suche contempt the grace offred is refused and as it were forsworne.
1599. Shaks., Pass. Pilgr., 33.
| A woman I forswore: but I will proue | |
| Thou being a Goddesse, I forswore not thee: | |
| My vow was earthly, thou a heauenly loue, | |
| Thy grace being gainde, cures all disgrace in me. |
1622. Drayton, Poly-olb., xii. 83.
| His force and fortune made the Foes so much to feare, | |
| As they the Land at last did vtterly forsweare. |
1660. Milton, Free Commw., Wks. 1738, I. 588. The solemn Ingagement, wherin we all forswore Kingship, was no more a breach of the Covnant, than the Covnant was of the Protestation before.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, II. i. I shall forswear your company. You are the most teasing, captious, incorrigible lover!
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, V. xiii. I foreswore, with the most solemn oaths, the gaming table.
1845. S. Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref., III. 368–9. He would listen to no propositions of peace, unless accompanied with the two great concessions, on which he had already insisted, i.e. that the whole system of pensions should be for ever forsworn, and the preaching of the gospel permitted throughout all the cantons of Switzerland.
b. with inf. as obj.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., I. i. 229.
| She hath forsworne to loue, and in that vow | |
| Do I liue dead, that liue to tell it now. | |
| Ibid. (1607), Cor., V. iii. 80. | |
| The thing I haue forsworne to graunt, may never | |
| Be held by you denials. |
2. To deny or repudiate on oath or with strong asseveration. † Also with inf. or sentence as obj.
c. 1400. An Apology for Lollard Doctrines, 109. Appily I be not greuid to denay God, or constreyin be nede to to steyle, or forsuer þe name of my Lord God.
1532. More, Confut. Tindale, Wks. 603/2. Saynt Peter before hys repentance sinned not deadly at the time when he forswore Chryst.
1565–73. Cooper, Thesaurus, Abiurauit creditum, he hath forsworne his debt.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., V. i. 11.
| That selfe chaine about his necke, | |
| Which he forswore most monstrously to haue. | |
| Ibid. (1596), 1 Hen. IV., V. ii. 39. | |
| Of his Oath-breaking: which he mended thus, | |
| By now forswearing that he is forsworne. |
1622. J. Boys, Wks., 491. Who did euer offend in word more than Peter? forswearing his owne master.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. ix. If thou durst, [thou] would’st forswear thy own hand and seal.
1738. Pope, Epil. Sat., I. 111.
| And at a Peer, or Peeress, shall I fret, | |
| Who starves a Sister, or forswears a Debt? |
3. intr. To swear falsely, commit perjury.
a. 1000. Laws of Edw. & Guth., § 3. Gyf ȝehadod man … forsweriȝe oþþe forlicȝe.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. v. 33. Thou shalt not forswere, sothely to the Lord thou shalt ȝeeld thin oethis.
a. 1592. Greene, Jas. IV., V. iv.
| You swear, forswear, and all to compass wealth; | |
| Your money is your god, your hoard your heaven. |
1681. Cotton, The Wonders of the Peake.
| And that to swear, curse, slaunder, and forswear | |
| More natural is to your Peak Highlander. |
a. 1763. Shenstone, Charms of Precedence, 21.
| Besides, how insincere you are! | |
| Do ye not flatter, lye, forswear, | |
| And daily cheat, and weekly pray, | |
| And all for this—to lead the way? |
1876. Farrar, Marlb. Serm., xxvii. 265. They were constantly discussing the relative importance of fringes and phylacteries, the relative heinousness of forswearing by the temple and forswearing by its gold.
b. refl. To swear falsely, perjure oneself. Also pass. to be guilty of perjury.
a. 1000. Laws Ecgb. P., II. § 24. Ȝif hwyle læwede man hine forsweriȝe … fæste .iiii. ȝear.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Josh. ii. 20. We ne beoþ forsworene.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 13. Ne for-swerie þu þe.
c. 1205. Lay., 4124.
| Nu heo beð for-sworne | |
| mid heore swike-dome. |
1340. Ayenb., 6. Yef he zuereþ uals be his wytinde; he him uorzuerþ.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 5973–4.
| If I forswere me, than am I lorn, | |
| But I wol never be forsworn. |
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cclxxx. 419. He sware by his fathers soule, wherby he was neuer forsworne, that he wolde gette it agayne, and that he wolde make ye traytours derely abye their falsnesse.
1526–34. Tindale, Matt. v. 33. Thou shalt not forswere thy silfe, but shaltt performe thyne othe to God.
1666. Wood, Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), II. 89. Dr. Pelham forswore himself, having 800 li. lying hy him.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 105, 8 Dec., ¶ 3. I hope you won’t be such a perjur’d Wretch as to forswear your self.
1838. Lytton, Leila, V. iii. Hear me, O God and Prophet of the Moslem! hear one who never was forsworn!
1871. Blackie, Four Phases, i. 17. I have sworn to obey the laws, and I cannot forswear myself.
† c. trans. To defraud of by perjury. Obs.
1668. Rolle, Abridgem., Tit. Action sur Case (F.). pl. 12. 40. Si home dit dun auter, He did forswear me … 40s. worth of Tithes in Canterbury Court. Nul Action gist pur ceux Parols.
† 4. a. To swear by (a thing) falsely or profanely.
c. 1325. Song Mercy, 149, E. E. Poems (1862), 123.
| We stunt noþer for schame ne drede | |
| To teren vr god from top to to | |
| For-swere his soule, his hert al-so. |
b. To swear (something) falsely; to break (an oath); to forsake (sworn allegiance).
1580. [see FORSWORN 2].
a. 1631. Donne, Woman’s Constancy, 7.
| Wilt thou then antedate some new made vow? | |
| Or say that now | |
| We are not just those persons, which wee were? | |
| Or that oathes made in reverentiall feare | |
| Of Loue and his wrath, any may forsweare? |
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, lxvii. 7.
| Come, speak truly to me; what shameful rumour avouches | |
| Duty of years forsworn, honour in injury lost? |
† 5. To swear or vow to bring about. Obs. rare–1
a. 1300. Cursor M., 14561 (Cott.).
| Þe land o Iude he has for-born, | |
| For þar þai hafe his ded forsuorn. |
Hence Forswearing vbl. sb. and ppl. a. Forswearer, one who forswears (himself), a perjurer.
1340. Ayenb., 57. Þise ten boȝes we moȝe alsuo nemni ydelnesse, yelpinge, blondinge, todraȝinge, lyesynges, vorzueriinges, stryfinge, grochinge, wyþstondinge, blasfemye.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), III. v. 53. Ye lyers, forswerers and witnessers of falshede.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, xxvi. 92. This lady [Dydo] whan she dyde remembre the forsweryng of laomedon, of whom the troians are descended, made grete doubte to folowe theym.
1561. T. Norton, Calvin’s Inst., IV. xviii. (1634), 711. With forswearings and deceites to enter forceably into any mans possessions.
1583. Golding, Calvin on Deut. xxxix. 230. God will in the end vtter his wrath, both against forswearers and against theeues.
16[?]. Lett. to Friend, in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793), 484. The non-swearing, or forswearing clergy and laity, who will help forwards another revolution.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, i. (1840), 7. Thieving, lying, swearing, forswearing, joined to the most abominable lewdness, was the stated practice of the ship’s crew.
