Etymograph

English

forsooth

Forsooth comes from Old English for sōþ ‘truly, for certain, forsooth’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150for sōþ‘truly, for certain, forsooth’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forsothe
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604forsooth

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150for sōþ‘truly, for certain, forsooth’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500forsothe
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604forsooth

Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello: “[F]or certes, ſayes he, / I haue already choſen…”

Formed from for ‘for, by’ + sooth ‘truth’

Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- ‘before’

…

Proto-Germanic *furi

Proto-West Germanic *furi

Old English for ‘for’

Middle English for

English for

Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- ‘to be’

…

Proto-Germanic *sanþaz ‘truth’

Proto-West Germanic *sanþ ‘true’

Old English sōþ ‘truth’

Middle English sooth

English sooth

Every English word from Old English for sōþ

Today it means

adv Used as an intensifier, often ironic: indeed, really, truthfully.

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

Etymograph / Old English for sōþ / forsooth

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