forfend
English
Etymology
From Middle English forfenden (“to ward off, protect, prohibit”), equivalent to for- + fend.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɔːˈfɛnd/, /fə-/
- (General American) IPA(key): /fɔɹˈfɛnd/
- Rhymes: -ɛnd
- Hyphenation: for‧fend
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
forfend (third-person singular simple present forfends, present participle forfending, simple past and past participle forfended)
- (archaic) To prohibit; to forbid; to avert.
- 1594, Thomas Lodge, The Wounds of Civil War, act 4, scene 1, page 54:
- Clown: … You would know where Lord Anthonie is? I perceiue you. Shall I ſay he is in yond farme houſe? I deceiue you. Shall I tell you this wine is for him? the gods forfend, and ſo I end. Go fellow fighters theres a bob for ye.
- 2008, Lew, short circuit operators, zbadnYZNaK6VM1zanZ2dnUVZ_r7inZ2d@comcast.com
- What? Multi-posting? Usenet Gods forfend!
- 2018, Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, page 271:
- People have long given thought to the causes of danger and how they might be forfended.
Usage notes
- Common usage of this word is predominantly confined to set expressions such as heaven forfend.
Derived terms
Translations
prohibit; forbid; avert
Anagrams
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