The story
- Old English · derived fromfōran onġēan“opposite”
- Middle English · inherited from*foregaynst
- English todayforegainst
From Middle English *foregaynst, foreagenis, foragenis, foreganis, from Old English fōran onġēan (“opposite”), equivalent to fore- + gainst. Compare German vorentgegen.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.