English
forego
Forego comes from Old English foregān ‘to precede, stand out, go before’, from gān ‘to go’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-‘to leave’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gāną‘to go, walk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gān‘to go’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gān‘to go’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150foregān‘to precede, stand out, go before’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forgan
- Englishearliest quotation 1815forego
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-‘to leave’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gāną‘to go, walk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gān‘to go’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gān‘to go’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150foregān‘to precede, stand out, go before’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forgan
- Englishearliest quotation 1815forego
Earliest quotation: 1815, William Wordsworth: “pleasing remembrance of a thought foregone”.
Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before, formerly’
Proto-Germanic *fura- ‘before, in front of, for’
Proto-West Germanic *forē- ‘before, in front of, fore-, pre-’
English fore-
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave’
Proto-Germanic *gāną ‘to go’
Proto-West Germanic *gān ‘to go’
Old English gān ‘to go’
Middle English gon
English go
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave’
heritage, heir, inherit, hereditary, heredity, 20 more
through Old English gān ‘to go’
Today it means
verb To precede, to go before.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- / forego