English
foreknow
Foreknow comes from Middle English forknowen.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forknowen
- Englishearliest quotation 1582foreknow
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forknowen
- Englishearliest quotation 1582foreknow
Earliest quotation: 1582, The Nevv Testament of Iesus Christ: …, Rheims: Iohn Fogny: “God hath not reiected his people vvhich he foreknevve.”
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-Germanic *knēaną ‘to know’
Proto-West Germanic *knāan ‘to recognise’
Old English cnāwan ‘to know’
Middle English knowen ‘to know’
English know
The story
Replaced Old English fōrwitan, fōrewitan (‘to foreknow’).
Every English word from Middle English forknowen
Today it means
verb To have knowledge of beforehand.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English forknowen / foreknow