Etymograph

English

forge

Forge comes from Old French forge ‘forge (workshop)’, and goes back to Latin faber ‘workman in hard materials, smith’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaber‘workman in hard materials, smith’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfabrica‘workshop’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400forge‘forge (workshop)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘forge (workshop)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1627same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaber‘workman in hard materials, smith’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfabrica‘workshop’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400forge‘forge (workshop)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘forge (workshop)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1627same form

Earliest quotation: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “In the greater bodies the forge was easy.”

The story

Partially displaced English smithy.

Linked words

through Latin faber ‘workman in hard materials, smith’

fabrication, 3 more

through Latin fabrica ‘workshop’

fabric, 3 more

Another origin of forge

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰHbʰ-ró-suncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*faβros‘craftsman’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaber‘craftsman, smith’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfabrica‘a smithy, joiner's or smith's shop, workshop’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfabricoras fabrico‘to frame, construct, build’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400forger
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forgen‘to forge (shape metal)’
  8. Englishtodayforge

Today it means

noun A furnace or hearth where metals are heated prior to hammering them into shape.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin faber / forge

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